Reiss Nelson sends Mikel Arteta clear transfer message amid Arsenal exit rumours as focus shifts

Reiss Nelson has stated he wants more opportunities and minutes at Arsenal after his start in the FA Cup defeat against Liverpool which saw Arsenal eliminated before the fifth round for a third season in a row. Nelson had a great opportunity to score early in the game but like all the following chances it did not find the back of the net.

Arsenal had 18 shots on the day but could only hit the target five times, of which few truly tested Alisson besides a long-range strike from Ben White and a deflected effort from Gabriel Martinelli. Nelson, despite the misses, was arguably one of the most promising of all the performances and justified his start over both Martinelli and Leandro Trossard who have struggled for form of late.

Speaking to football.london after the game, Nelson admitted that his side have to do better in the box. Arsenal have scored just one goal from an xG of 6.5 from their last three games – the chances are being created, they’re just not being taken.

«It’s disappointing to be out straight away,» he told reporters. «I felt we created a lot of chances early on in the game, I had one straight away as well — which I failed to put away.

»I think we created a lot of chances but in the end, this is football. You have to score your chances and they punished us as at the end. It’s disappointing for us."

Nelson signed a new contract with the club in the summer despite plenty of talk of a potential move away from Arsenal. Nelson has recently been picked ahead of Emile Smith Rowe from the bench and yesterday, as mentioned, was selected before Martinelli and Trossard.

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