When Reiss Nelson replaced the injured Bukayo Saka early on Sunday afternoon, it’s fair to say few would have envisioned two goals and an assist.
Nelson’s breakthrough Premier League performance caught many off guard - but would have come as no great surprise to those who worked with him as a youngster. After all, it has been almost a decade since he was earmarked as Arsenal ’s “special one”.
That is according to former Arsenal academy chief Andries Jonker, who explained to the Mirror back in 2020 that Nelson was predicted for the very top from the moment he saw him aged just 14. Even at then, he stood out.
“Reiss, his talent was not questioned at all,” Jonker said. “Everybody could see his talent, and by everybody I mean absolutely everybody.
“Whether it was a coach or the opposition coach or a parent or a grandparent watching. Everybody would recognise the talent of that little boy. In youth football, you always have players who everybody who sees the player thinks, ‘this is a special one, he might be able to make it’.
“I think Reiss Nelson was a great example of that. I saw him first when he was 14, and there was hardly any doubt about it, he was very talented. It’s a long way from there to the first-team, but you could see he had the talent.”
It was that talent which saw Nelson introduced to the Arsenal first-team squad by Arsene Wenger aged just 17. But Nelson has since seen teammates kick-on whilst he has struggled to put it all together. Saka, who he replaced, is nearly two years younger but has become a star whilst Emile Smith Rowe has become a first-team regular.
Nonetheless, the sentiment that Nelson was Arsenal’s “special one” was always shared amongst his teammates. Speaking on Rio Ferdinand ’s Vibe with Five YouTube Channel over the summer, Smith Rowe said : "Reiss Nelson - he was the one in my age group. The things he used to do, you couldn't believe it sometimes.”
Whilst Nelson’s success at senior level has been limited, the acknowledgement of that natural talent has always been there. During his loan spell at Hoffenheim, coach Julian Nagelsmann, now at Bayern Munich, branded him “an incredible player in one-on-one situations and suggested he "he had the abilities to reach the levels of elite players in football such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo [and] Arjen Robben [if] he maintained his consistency and mentality”.
That consistency and mentality has never quite materialised, and those same concerns will remain despite his cameo against Nottingham Forest. Nonetheless, there is a real optimism this might finally be the moment Arsenal’s most precious talent finally delivers.
Speaking after the game, Mikel Arteta reiterated Nelson’s “special” talent and, crucially, suggested there has been a shift in his “attitude” and maturity in the past few months.
The Spaniard noted that “everybody is talking about it” behind the scenes - and now that noise has hit the outside after his eye-catching performance on Sunday.
“After the spell that he had last year on loan, we wanted him back to see if there are any changes, and there’s a prospect that we can really take to the next level,” Arteta said. “We think the potential is there and we think we’ve seen something in Reiss that is special.
“He’s been a part of our academy system and now he’s going to have an opportunity. He’s been out for almost three months with an injury, he’s back now, he’s fully fit and he’s ready to play. He just needs minutes now.
“His attitude and the way he’s matured and evolved over the past year or so has been really impressive, I think everybody is talking about it and now he needs to do it on the pitch.”
Of course, it is not all down to attitude, and some youth stars simply do not make the step up. Even for the most dominant youth players, it is necessary to evolve into the senior game.
Fortunately for Nelson, he was able to tap into one of the best - Robin van Persie - during his loan spell at Feyenoord last season. Whilst his stint in Holland was somewhat underwhelming, the manner of his two goals suggested he was learning from Van Persie along the way.
"Yeah, I speak with him [Van Persie],” Nelson told The Athletic last season. ”Sometimes he comes over on a Wednesday, before Europa Conference League games on a Thursday. I ask him about what positions I need to be getting in. Certain movements I need to be doing, certain finishes.”
After his two smart finishes, Nelson’s afternoon ended with a warm embrace from Steve Cooper, the manager on the receiving end with whom Nelson won the Under 17s World Cup almost five years ago to the day.
"[Reiss Nelson] and I always had a strong relationship,” Cooper said after the game. “He was a standout player for England U17s. It's good to see him doing well, I just wish it wasn't today.”
Five years on from being a stand-out in a team featuring the likes of Phil Foden, Smith Rowe and Callum Hudson-Odoi, the time might have come for him to make the jump Arsenal have been waiting for.
