Arsenal winger, Reiss Nelson, extended his contract on a long term deal with the club and the playing minutes were very hard to come by, so he made his intentions clear of leaving the club in the summer. Despite links with West Ham, Nelson joined Fulham on a season-long loan.
Nelson was made to bide his time for an appearance for Fulham, and he made his debut in a substitute appearance against West Ham, replacing former Arsenal teammate, Alex Iwobi. In 24 minutes against West Ham, Nelson had two shots, 20 touches and five in the opposition box, but like the rest of his new teammates, he was upset to see Danny Ings strike come late on to level the contest.
Nelson’s performance against Preston North End was outstanding
As expected, Nelson was part of the second string Fulham side that lost to Preston North End on penalties. Ryan Ledson opened the scoring for the home side, but Nelson got the equalizer with a neat one-timed finish after receiving a cut back from Ryan Sessegnon. The Arsenal loanee was substituted for Raul Jimenez on the 85th minute and the game went into penalties, with Preston winning 16-15. That was certainly the longest penalty kick session I’ve ever remembered watching.
Nelson had a 91 percent passing accuracy, fired four shots with a xGOT of 1.44. It was another great performance from the winger and it will be interesting to see how his battle with Iwobi will be this season. In all honesty, his career was seriously stagnating at Arsenal and this move to Fulham offers him the opportunity to get some valuable games under his belt, and if he plays well enough, his services may be retained.
Fulham lost an influential in the form of Willian, so Nelson and Iwobi will have to remain consistent to impress gaffer, Marco Silva.
