'At one stage': Pundit says Arsenal have a player who once had even more talent than Bukayo Saka

By Charles Jones

Speaking on the Highbury Squad YouTube channel, Kevin Campbell has been discussing Reiss Nelson after his dramatic goal for the Gunners at the weekend.

Nelson wrote his name into Arsenal folklore with a late goal against Bournemouth on Saturday that could have huge implications on his career and on the title race.

Indeed, Nelson has fallen down the pecking order at Arsenal, despite showing a lot of promise as a youngster, but Campbell now says that he’s seeing signs of life from the winger.

Campbell clearly rates Nelson. He even went as far as to say that at one point the winger was seen as the most talented young player on Arsenal’s books ahead of Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli.

Signs of life

Campbell gave his view on Nelson.

“Reiss Nelson, obviously he’s been bypassed by Saka, Martinelli and Nketiah. All of these guys have gone by him, and at one stage he was the most talented, he was the next one to come through. It hasn’t worked out as much for him, but we’re starting to see signs of life. We saw it earlier this season when he scored two goals. To come on and make such an impact is huge for his confidence,” Campbell says.

Late bloomer

As Campbell says, Nelson was once tipped to be the next top youngster to come out of Hale End, and while it hasn’t quite worked out that way so far, this goal could kickstart something for the winger.

Nelson has bags of ability, and while he needs to showcase that more consistently, confidence will be key if he is going to fulfil his potential.

Of course, some players do take a while to bloom – just look at Martin Odegaard who was written off before his 21^st birthday only to eventually become one of the best players in the Premier League today.