‘Really important’: Fabrizio Romano now says Arsenal rejected loan bids for ‘special’ player this summer

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It was a weekend to remember for Arsenal winger Reiss Nelson as he scored his first ever Premier League brace.

The 22-year-old came off the bench in the first half for the injured Bukayo Saka and made a massive impact.

However, an update from Fabrizio Romano – via Caught Offside – suggests this season could have been very different for Nelson.

The winger has struggled to make an impact in Arsenal’s first team since being promoted from the academy.

Yesterday’s appearance against Nottingham Forest was his first league minutes for Arsenal since the opening day of last season.

He spent last year at Feyenoord, and although he wasn’t a regular starter, he played his part in the Dutch team reaching the Europa Conference League final.

The report from Romano suggests that Arsenal rejected bids from three clubs to sign Nelson on loan this summer.

The Athletic suggested in the summer that Mikel Arteta had decided to keep Nelson this season.

However, an injury in pre-season limited his opportunities and allowed the likes of Marquinhos to make their mark in the Europa League.

Nelson has shown against Nottingham Forest that he’s now ready to take his chance in the Premier League.

Arsenal rejected loan bids for Nelson

Romano provided an update on Nelson and the potential loan moves that were offered to him in the summer.

“Mikel Arteta was really happy with his approach to training. Nelson can be a really important player for Arsenal to be used when rotating their squad for now,” Romano said.

“More than three clubs asked for Nelson on loan in the summer, but Arsenal decided to keep him.”

The ‘special’ winger may have played more football had he gone on loan in the summer.

However, at 22 years old, he’s reaching the point where if he can’t break into Arsenal’s team soon he may need to leave permanently.

It shows that Arteta has faith in Nelson’s ability that he wanted to keep him this summer.

His plan may have been to use Nelson as a rotation option in Europe initially.

Arteta has hardly changed his Premier League starting line-up all season, limiting opportunities for Arsenal’s fringe players.

However, Nelson’s brace yesterday – combined with Saka’s injury – could mean he’s given a chance in the first team.

Arteta will be very glad Arsenal rejected loan bids for Nelson in the summer if Saka’s injury ends up being more serious than first thought.