Reiss Nelson

Arsenal

2008–2018: Early career

Nelson joined the Arsenal Academy in 2008, when he was eight years old. Throughout his long youth career at Arsenal, he was regarded as one of the club's most promising young players; he often impressed the youth coaches at the club and regularly played above his age group. Before making his senior debut in 2017, he was playing in the under-21 youth team, five years above his age group. Nelson signed his first professional contract in December 2016, following his 17th birthday. Ahead of Arsenal's 2017–18 season, Nelson was named in Arsène Wenger's pre-season touring squad travelling to both Australia and China. On 13 July 2017, he made his unofficial debut for Arsenal against Sydney FC in a friendly; during the game Nelson played on the right-wing, dribbling balls towards the byline and setting up teammates Joe Willock and Danny Welbeck regularly. Whilst on tour, he also played against Western Sydney Wanderers at the Stadium Australia, Bayern Munich at the Shanghai Stadium, and Chelsea at Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing. Nelson made his first competitive appearance against Chelsea in the 2017 FA Community Shield; he came on as a substitute for Welbeck as Arsenal won 4–1 on penalties after the match had ended in a draw. During the season, Nelson was limited to mostly cup and European appearances for the first-team, including five UEFA Europa League appearances, three EFL Cup matches and one FA Cup loss against Nottingham…

Nelson was first picked to represent England in November 2014, when the under-16 coach Steve Cooper selected Nelson to be a part of his 18-man squad to play Scotland on 20 November. He subsequently made his youth international debut starting the match which England won 2–1. Nelson was included in Cooper's squad for the 2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship, and he helped England reach the quarter-finals where they were knocked out by Spain; Nelson was named in the Team of the Tournament for his performances with England. During the under-19's 2018 UEFA European championship qualification campaign, Nelson scored twice against Hungary in March 2018. Despite England qualifying for the tournament, he was one of a number of players withdrawn from selection for the tournament by their club. On his under-21 debut against Andorra, he scored the sixth goal in England's 7–0 win at the Proact Stadium; the win sealed the team's qualification for the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. During the tournament, Nelson made only one appearance, a 3–3 draw against Croatia in the group stage; he scored England's first goal from a penalty, but it was not enough for England to qualify for the knockout stage.

As of match played 24 May 2026

Nelson was born in Elephant and Castle, South London, England. He is of Jamaican descent through his mother. He grew up in the Aylesbury Estate in Walworth and attended the London Nautical School, which trains young men from Inner London, often with maritime and sporting backgrounds. Nelson played football at the school in conjunction with his training at Arsenal and still acts as a mentor there. He became friends with fellow aspiring footballer Jadon Sancho, who lived nearby, after they played together in youth tournaments; Nelson and Sancho were among many successful footballers from the Borough of Lambeth and South London at the time, including Tammy Abraham, Ademola Lookman and Tashan Oakley-Boothe. Nelson has described his younger self as a "cheeky chappie" and someone who was "very loud", which he said often led him into trouble. Nelson accredits his mother for his success at youth level, for ensuring he got to training on time and working two jobs to sustain Nelson, his brother and his sister in their youth; he came from a poor family and driving to and from training was often a "big sacrifice".