Alexandre Lacazette’s pain could become Reiss Nelson’s gain

While Alexandre Lacazette’s injury is a blow to Arsenal, it gives young Reiss Nelson the opportunity to stake his claim in Unai Emery’s XI.

While it was tough for some Arsenal fans to see their club let go of youth product Alex Iwobi in the summer, as inconsistent as he was, there was one player that was still drawing intrigue and perhaps keeping the hope of a youth product starting in the front 3 alive – Reiss Nelson.

While the England u21 international spent last season on a successful loan with Hoffenheim, the Nigerian Alex Iwobi was putting in yet another painfully average season with the Gunners, all but ending the hope that he would break out of his shell at some point with the team.

As I mentioned earlier, many Gooners were reluctant to see Iwobi go, but his departure created the room for the vastly more talented Reiss Nelson to enter the first-team fray.

Now, with Alexandre Lacazette set to miss a month with an ankle injury, Nelson may very well be able to step up into the hole at left-wing and make that position his own.

A full strength Arsenal team is very difficult to put together – especially up front. While Nicolas Pepe is at his best on the right flank, both Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are natural center-forwards.

Despite this, these 3 players are comfortably the 3 best forwards at the club. You can see how this would create a dilemma: who plays on the left? Well for the most part, it has been Aubameyang, and he still manages to score his usual amount from that flank. Lacazette’s injury opens up the center-forward spot for Aubameyang though, leaving the left-wing spot vacant for Reiss Nelson to slot into.

It’s not as if Nelson has no competition for the position, however. Despite Mkhitaryan and Iwobi leaving, Mesut Ozil is still in the hunt for a first-XI spot, and I’m sure he’d much rather start on the left than start on the bench. Both Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka prefer the left-wing as well, although they may be too raw to fight for this position as of right now.

Reiss Nelson is still waiting for his breakout performance with Arsenal, and with Lacazette’s injury opening up a pathway for him to enter the first XI, that could come sooner rather than later. The England youth international is tipped for big things, and we may very well be in for the beginning of that journey this month.