Why Arsenal and Reiss Nelson have agreed to contract termination as Gunners hope to complete triple deal
Reiss Nelson has left Arsenal with immediate effect after a mutual decision was made to terminate his contract.
The 26-year-old returned to the club this summer after spending last season on loan at Brentford.
Arsenal were keen to sell Nelson, who had entered the final year of his contract. That deal did include the option to extend for a further 12 months.
Talks took place with West Ham over a £3million, but progress was slow and there was some reluctance from Nelson to drop down to the Championship.
It has been decided that terminating his contract and allowing Nelson to become a free agent suits both parties.
While Arsenal have not brought in a fee for the winger, the club are content that this outcome is financially beneficial to them.
Nelson was on wages of around £100,000-a-week and that is therefore a significant saving for the Gunners over the next 12 months.
That salary and Nelson’s injury record meant there was not the market for him this summer that the club had hoped.
There was also an acceptance from Arsenal and Nelson that he needed regular football and was not going to get that under Mikel Arteta.
He made only 10 league appearances for Brentford last season, one fewer that the number of times he featured for Fulham the previous year.
Injuries disrupted both loan spells and Nelson's career has stagnated as a result of that lack of football. The priority is to now find a club where he will be a more central part of the manager's plans.
Nelson spent 18 years at Arsenal, rising through the academy ranks and into the first team.
He made 90 appearances for the club and scored eight goals, including that 97th-minute winner against Bournemouth in the 2022-23 season as Arsenal challenged for the title for the first time under Arteta.
Arsenal hope to find moves for Gabriel Jesus and Fabio Vieira before the end of the transfer window on Tuesday night.
Gabriel Martinelli, meanwhile, is on the verge of completing his transfer to Al-Hilal and is expected to travel to Saudi Arabia this weekend to finalise that deal.