Major Arsenal summer plans for Hale End trio now emerge, talks are ‘progressing’

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Arsenal now have major summer transfer plans for three of their Hale End academy success stories.

Emile Smith Rowe, Eddie Nketiah, and Reiss Nelson all look set to leave Arsenal in the upcoming summer transfer window. 

This trio are all products of the north London club’s Hale End academy system and are now part of Mikel Arteta’s first team squad at the Emirates Stadium. However, none of them are currently regular starters, or seemingly particularly close to being so.

Why Emile Smith Rowe, Eddie Nketiah, and Reiss Nelson are all for sale

Of the three, Smith Rowe is perhaps the one who has shone brightest in the past. In the 2021/22 season he was in electric form, as he racked up ten Premier League strikes and emerged as one of the most promising young talents in the division. However, injuries have derailed the 23-year-old’s career since then.

Earlier on this season, Arteta insisted that Smith Rowe remained in his plans. However, it now seems that the Gunners will be willing to cash-in on the midfielder. 

In the first half of this season, whilst Gabriel Jesus was struggling for fitness, Nketiah started regularly for Arsenal. The highlight of his campaign came in late October, when he bagged his maiden Premier League hat-trick against Sheffield United. The striker has not scored in his 14 league outings since then, though, and has fallen down the pecking order as Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard have both subsequently impressed when called upon to lead the line.

There was interest in Nketiah recently, and it does now seem that Arsenal have reached a level at which he can’t really contribute a great deal.

Nelson was handed a new contract last summer, but has very much been kept in a back up role throughout the campaign so far. He has made 14 Premier League appearances this season, but none of those have come as a starter. A higher standard of cover and competition for Bukayo Saka’s place in the side is required.

What Arsenal are doing now

According to Football Transfers, Arsenal are open to moving on all three players this summer, and exit talks are now “progressing.”

As home-grown talents, Smith Rowe, Nketiah, and Nelson are all well-liked by Arsenal fans. However, as talented young English players, they all hold real market value, and the Gunners would be wise to take advantage of that fact in order to reinvest the funds raised by their sales in new players who can take the club up another level.