West Ham United have opened discussions with Arsenal regarding a potential move for winger Reiss Nelson as the Championship club look to bolster their squad ahead of a push for promotion back to the Premier League.
Nelson, 26, has been away from the Emirates Stadium for the past two campaigns, spending time on loan first at Brentford and then at Fulham. He returned to Arsenal for pre-season this summer, but manager Mikel Arteta has made clear the winger does not feature in his plans going forward, prompting the club to search for a suitable exit.
According to reports, West Ham have made contact with Arsenal to explore the possibility of signing Nelson, and the north London club are said to be receptive to the idea, having offered encouragement to the Hammers as talks progress. Nelson is entering the final year of his contract at Arsenal, adding urgency to any potential deal from the Gunners' perspective.
Despite the willingness on both sides to negotiate, there remain question marks over whether Nelson himself would be prepared to drop down to the second tier of English football to join West Ham. Personal terms have not yet been discussed with the player, who is understood to still be weighing up his options before committing to any move.
Nelson has attracted interest from a number of clubs this summer, with Portuguese giants Benfica among those to have shown interest. Intriguingly, Benfica are now managed by Marco Silva, the same coach who took Nelson on loan to Fulham two seasons ago, suggesting a level of familiarity that could work in the Portuguese club's favor should talks with West Ham stall.
For their part, Arsenal are said to be prioritizing a permanent sale of Nelson this summer rather than another temporary loan arrangement, though they have received enquiries about the latter option. Should a loan deal be agreed upon, the Gunners retain the ability to extend Nelson's contract by a further 12 months, a mechanism designed to protect his transfer value in case a permanent sale is pursued at a later date.
Nelson's situation is just one of several ongoing transfer matters at Arsenal as the window edges toward its conclusion. The club are also looking to offload forward Gabriel Jesus and midfielder Fabio Vieira before the deadline. Arsenal are reportedly seeking a fee in the region of £20 million for Jesus, who has been strongly linked with a move to Napoli. However, it is understood that no formal approach has yet been made by the Serie A side for the Brazilian international.
Elsewhere, Arsenal are also working to secure a loan move for young goalkeeper Tommy Setford, who is in need of regular first-team football to continue his development. The arrival of Illan Meslier at the Emirates has pushed Setford further down the goalkeeping pecking order, and the 20-year-old is expected to depart on loan in the coming weeks to find playing time elsewhere.
As the transfer window nears its final stages, Arsenal's focus appears to be on trimming their squad and generating funds where possible, with Nelson's potential move to West Ham representing one of several deals the club hope to finalize before business closes.
Based on reporting from Standard Sport.