11th August 2026 Daniel Luker (@danielluker_)
According to a lot of reports, West Ham United are closing in on the signing of Arsenal’s Reiss Nelson.
Despite announcing the signing of Tottenham Hotspur winger Manor Solomon this evening, the Hammers are still interested in a move for Reiss Nelson of their North London rivals.
Before the signing of Solomon, Jarrod Bowen was the only recognised winger at the football club. Now Solomon has signed to play on the left, we now need at least one other for squad rotation.
If we do only want to sign one more, which I’d think would be the case, Reiss Nelson could be a brilliant option.
The 26-year-old’s stock is low after two poor Premier League loans in the last two seasons at Fulham and Brentford.
The winger clearly wants to stay in London, and after those two there really aren’t any more realistic moves.
So, a move to West Ham in the Championship as a chance of resurrecting his career could be absolutely perfect.
With his stock being so low, the Gunners are struggling to sell him. So, a loan could be an option for us.
A lot has been made of this on social media because Nelson only has a year left on his contract. Why would Arsenal loan him and likely lose him on a free next summer?
Well, according to Transfermarkt, Arsenal have the option to extend his contract by a year to the summer of 2028. As we did with George Earthy in January, Arsenal would likely trigger that extension then loan him out. However, they would rather sell him and get his 100k wages off the books completely.
However, a loan wouldn’t be the end ot the world for the Gunners because if he has a good season in East London, they could probably get £10/15 million for him next summer, but this season, they would be lucky to get £5 million for him.
A report from Claret and Hugh suggests the deal for Nelson is 90% done, with personal terms already agreed with the 26-year-old. So, it does look likely Nelson will become a Hammer in the next few days.