Reiss Nelson has revealed he was close to leaving Arsenal before Mikel Arteta persuaded him to sign a new deal with the club.
The academy graduate’s time with the Gunners appeared to be coming to an end this summer with his contract set to expire, but in July it was confirmed that .
Nelson started just five matches across all competitions last season, playing just 201 minutes in the , with a reoccurring thigh injury and the form of keeping him on the sidelines.
But in his limited game time, the right winger had quite the impact, recording three goals and three assists, including the in 3-2 comeback against .
As a result there was plenty of interest in the 23-year-old from across Europe, including Brighton and , but ultimately he U-turned on his decision to leave the Emirates.
And Nelson has now revealed that Arteta was the main factor behind that call, telling ESPN: ‘I feel like I’m at a stage now of my career where football is important to me.
‘Of course, with Arsenal, it’s the team I love and the team I’ve been at since I was like eight years old. There comes a time where you think about also playing football as well.
‘I spoke with Mikel quite a lot of times and he kind of explained the route that he sees for me and the transition that he’s seen in me from previous years to now. We had a good conversation and that changed my mind and I signed.
‘I feel like I took my chances when my chances were there [last season]. I feel as a player, sometimes you’re just constantly just waiting, waiting, waiting, and then when you get your chance, you might not be ready for your chance.
‘But I thought I was working in the back with a lot of the guys, a lot of the guys were training quite hard with me as well, and I think when I got opportunities to play, I kind of showed what I can do in the minutes that I got.’
It remains to be seen how much game time Nelson will get this season as Arsenal look to end their wait for the Premier League title, a campaign that kicks-off on Saturday against Nottingham Forest.
The player added: ‘This season I want to kind of set in stone some things that I need to hit. We spoke about that, he [Arteta] said, “This is what I think you need to work on”. I said, “I feel like I need to work on this”.
‘We came to a conclusion and we sit down and we kind of go through the things I need to work on and hit targets, you know. But for me, it’s just about being available.
‘Like I said, injuries is one of the ones where I missed 17 games last season. So it’s not one of the ones where I want to be missing any games for any niggles and stuff like that. I want to be available and help the team.’
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