Arsenal loanee Reiss Nelson opens up on finding home away from home

Arsenal loanee Reiss Nelson says he’s ready to hit the ground running at the Emirates next season.

Nelson has been enjoying a successful loan spell at Hoffenheim this term, finding the net six times for the Bundesliga outfit.

In previous times, a young English player, so out of their comfort zone, may have scrambled for the fastest escape route out of Germany.

But the 19 year-old has thrived in the Bundesliga and turned himself into a leading performer in the England under-21 set up.

Nelson is now on the fringes of the senior England squad

Nelson signed a new long-term contract at Arsenal last summer and impressed on the club’s pre-season tour of Singapore. In the search for first-team football, he plumped for a season in Germany and the results were initially explosive.

He scored six goals before January under boss Julian Nagelsmann.

‘The intensity has made me better,’ Nelson says. ‘On my debut, the ball went over the top and I just heard everyone shouting ‘Weiter, weiter, weiter’.. I didn’t know what they were talking about! I realised it meant run, run, press, press. That’s the intensity you want.

The goals have dried up as a result of injury, but Nelson has remained upbeat about his progress in Germany.

‘I am just at the beginning. I want to get to the very top. My family deserve everything they will get.

‘For them to see me now in an Arsenal shirt and a Hoffenheim shirt, scoring my first goal here, they were literally in tears. It can only get better. I just need to stay loyal to God and anything can happen.’

Gooners, could Nelson be a starter next season? Let us know in the comments…