Fulham’s left wing saga continues with the curious case of Reiss Nelson

We love a left winger transfer saga, don’t we? In our promotion summer, Justin Kluivert was nailed on to become a Fulham player for a very reasonable fee, only for a work permit to dash our hopes.

That one has cost us big as he has done very well for Bournemouth. Considering the prices mentioned to potentially prize him away from the Cherries, he could have been a big profit sale for us, or a player who had locked down our left side for years to come.

Then came Callum Hudson-Odoi, who was close, then closer, then extremely close, then full on pressing up against being a Fulham player before signing for Forrest. Willian was just a saga pretty much every summer.

Reiss Nelson has certainly become the left-wing transfer saga this year to maintain this not-so-wonderful tradition. In a similar vein to CHO, we have had multiple reports from reliable journalists and claimed ‘in the knows’ saying that it is very close. Are we ever going to get him, and what is the attraction? Let’s deep dive.

Why do we want Reiss back?

First and foremost, many reports suggest that Marco is a big fan. Even without these reports, it is clear how fondly MS spoke of Reiss, and he clearly believed in him, as pre-injury, he was starting. It could be argued that we played our best football last season when he was in the team. Tottenham away was a great example where we were electric and our Arsenal loanee was at the centre of everything good going forward.

It must also be noted that ESR looked at his best when linking up with his long-time teammate, so many have muted that as a potential benefit as well. Hale end graduates have suggested that it was Nelson, out of the likes of ESR, Saka, and the rest of that very talented group, who was considered by far the biggest prospect when they were young. In his pre-season cameos, Arsenal fans are claiming he is their best left winger!

Following his injury, we struggled to open teams up and kill games off. Iwobi is a very good player technically, and his goals and assist record last year was outstanding, but it is fair to say he lacks the pace and directness that Reiss possesses and the ability to beat a man to create space and chances. It seems clear with a recent huge bid for a certain Brazilian wonder kid that we will come on to that we are looking for more dynamic wide men who can beat their man.

There have been many comments that getting Nelson back would be underwhelming, but if you look at some of the stats, an argument can be made that with more game time, there is an outstanding talent there.

As discussed, Nelson is a very direct player who ranks incredibly highly, to the point of being elite, on progressive carries, successful take-ons, and crucial shot-creating actions as seen in last season’s metrics, courtesy of FBref.com:

It is a small sample size as he only actually played 574 minutes (6.4 lots of 90 minutes) and he registered two goals and one assist.

Some felt he was wasteful in front of goal, and he was in moments, but with such little playing time that he can improve. If we look at his season on loan in Holland, he played a lot more and was more productive with 4 goals and 7 assists in 1576 minutes (only 17.5 games of playing time).

For Arsenal in 22/23, he registered 3 goals and 2 assists in just 202 minutes in the Premier League!

Just for comparison, again, a small sample size, but we have just put in a huge bid for Kevin that would likely be more than double what we would pay for Nelson, and you can see how similar his stats are (based only on the 24/25 Champions League, as they do not run for the Ukrainian league):

Why are we hesitant?

Unfortunately, Nelson’s injury record is alarming and probably the reason, based on the stats above, that he has never become a £40+ million player himself:

Season	Injury	From	Until	Days	Games missed
24/25	Hamstring injury	06/12/2024	01/06/2025	178	28
22/23	Thigh	22/12/2022	12/02/2023	53	9
22/23	Thigh	08/08/2022	03/10/2022	57	8

He has also had major hamstring surgery and has only just recovered fully. As a result, there is a rumour that Marco is keen, but the club has concerns.

Why can’t a deal be done?

It is one of those rare things in the transfer market. By all accounts, Fulham want the player, the player is desperate to come, and Arsenal are desperate to get him off their books. Should be easy, right? Clearly not.

Reports are that Arsenal want a permanent sale or a loan with a definite obligation. There is talk that they are looking at Chelsea, which are managing to sell their unwanted players for ridiculous fees, and they feel that they should be able to do the same. With the injury history not quite the same, though, is it, Arsenal?

The reports suggest that we are only looking for a loan with an option or possibly a loan with an obligation if certain criteria are met.

What should we do?

If Arsenal thinks that they can get a permanent sale, or unconditional obligation, for a player with that injury history who, on top has just had major hamstring surgery, then good luck to them.

It certainly doesn’t appear that anyone has made that kind of an offer yet. If they do, then so be it, in my opinion, and we move on. Fulham must stand firm here. It is frustrating, and I have seen many comments of ‘why haven’t we just got this done’, but if Arsenal won’t shift their stance, there is little that we can do aside from cave if we want it done more quickly.

We should hold all the cards here. Arsenal are desperate to get Nelson off their books, and Nelson is desperate to come and stay in London.

Unfortunately, it seems that the only solution is to play a waiting game, as a loan with an option or reasonable obligation is more than fair.

Reiss still has two years left on his Arsenal contract, so if he proves his fitness and form with us this year, Arsenal could still make gains next year even if said option/obligation wasn’t triggered.

What if we get Kevin?

As we publish this, Peter Rutzler has just posted to say that talks have stalled with Kevin as a result of a gap in valuation and that we are still interested in Nelson. This could, of course, be a tactic hoping that Shakhtar drop their demands, so watch this space.

Many may think that if we sign Kevin, that will be the end of this saga, as it will be one or the other. It could well be, but it is not an automatic conclusion in my eyes.

There have been many reports that we are after two wingers, and Nelson has played more on the right than he has on the left in his career.

Looking at the stats above, how exciting would it be to have that kind of a direct and dynamic option on both sides for carries and take-ons? We do have Adama, who is similar, of course, but he is more out and out pace and muscle rather than skill, I would argue.

Kevin also reportedly has an injury of his own at present, so we could use Nelson at the start of the season while he recovers. What Kevin would do is show Arsenal that we are not going to cave into their demands, as we would certainly have less of a need to obtain Nelson. I can only see this as a positive to help push Arsenal to comply with our terms if we indeed want both.

Conclusion

Will Nelson be this year’s CHO/Kluivert? I think this has gone on so long it is pretty 50/50 and could go either way. Another club may take the gamble on the injuries. I think this is unlikely, but if they do fair enough. I would personally love Reiss back with all the potential he has but only on the right terms, and crucially, Fulham stand firm, so we mitigate the risk of ending up with another Kongolo or Mawson.