Despite his weekend heroics, Reiss Nelson is not close to signing a new Arsenal contract, according to recent reports.
The Hale End academy graduate came on as a substitute during Saturday's clash against Bournemouth, registering an assist and scoring an injury-time winner to help the Gunners secure all three points after being 2-0 down. However, as per 90min, there is yet to be a breakthrough regarding Nelson's contract talks, with his current deal set to expire this summer.
It is claimed that Brentford, Crystal Palace, and West Ham United are all interested in signing the 23-year-old on a free transfer if he does leave the Emirates Stadium but the player has made it no secret of his desire to stay in N5. When asked by football.london back in December if he wanted to continue in north London, the 23-year-old said: "Of course.
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"I’ve been here since I was eight and Arsenal is all I know. I’m only a couple of minutes from the stadium, all my family is there. So of course I’d love to stay."
Nelson's aforementioned finish against the Cherries was much more than a last-minute winner, it retained Arsenal's five-point gap over Manchester City in the Premier League title race, with just 12 games remaining this term. Explaining his striker after the full-time whistle, he said: "It dropped onto my right.
"I wanted to hit it with my laces on my right but I saw the defender coming out, so I decided to shift it onto my left and then just had to hit through it, aim for the top bins - something like that! I’m just happy it went in - I'm delighted with it.
"When the ball came out to me I was thinking 'please give me one chance'. I'm buzzing, really happy. I controlled it with my right foot and it came onto my left. We need moments like this if we want to go all the way.
"We're not looking at any other team at the minute. We are focusing on ourselves. We will keep going day-by-day, game-by-game. As an Arsenal fan, I'm just delighted with the result."
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