Andrea Berta ultimately settled on allowing several Arsenal players whom he couldn’t sell in the summer transfer window to leave on loan.
The Gunners spent the majority of the window focusing on strengthening Mikel Arteta’s squad, spending £250 million on eight new recruits.
This meant that the Italian sporting director was forced to quickly find temporary homes for several players who were surplus to requirements on deadline day.
Jakub Kiwior joined Porto on an initial loan deal, while Fabio Vieira, Reiss Nelson and Oleksandr Zinchenko all departed on loan to Hamburg, Brentford and Nottingham Forest, respectively.
Reiss Nelson’s time at Brentford isn’t going according to plan
Nelson completed a deadline-day season-long loan move to Brentford.
This switch came as something of a surprise, after the winger had been heavily linked with two other London clubs, Fulham and Crystal Palace.
The Hale End graduate is under contract at Arsenal until 2027, but clearly has no future in Arteta’s team, and thus, another move will need to be arranged when he returns next summer.
That said, the Gunners ought to cut Nelson’s temporary spell with the Bees short after the way it’s started.
The 25-year-old has featured just once thus far in West London, introduced as a second-half substitute in Brentford’s League Cup third-round clash against Aston Villa in early September.
While he has missed the last two matches with an illness, he was an unused substitute against Chelsea and didn’t make the match-day squad against Fulham, despite no reports of an injury at that time.
Keith Andrews seemingly favours the likes of Kevin Schade and £42.5 million signing Dango Ouattara, and this is unlikely to change anytime soon.
Arsenal should recall Reiss Nelson if he doesn’t start playing regularly
Arsenal will be keen on selling Nelson in the summer, rather than sanctioning another loan move, but this will be extremely difficult if he continues to remain on the periphery at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Nelson has been described as ‘impressive’ in the past, and it’s certainly clear that he possesses talent.
Thus, it’s not difficult to imagine a scenario where he goes to a different club, plays regularly and is then a saleable asset in the summer.
If Andrews doesn’t start selecting Nelson in the weeks straight after the international break, then Arsenal should act decisively and recall him.
With Noni Madueke and Kai Havertz injured, there may even be the odd opportunity for him to feature at Arsenal before the January window opens.
This move simply has to happen in order for the Gunners to protect Nelson’s value and ensure he doesn’t leave for free in 2027.
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