Reiss Nelson must have the same agent as Eddie Nketiah. If he does, that person deserves a pay rise with both players now earning approx. 100,000 pound a week!
To put that in perspective William Saliba’s new deal is rumoured to be just over 200,000 pound a week.
Was Eddie’s and Reiss’ combined contribution last season truly the equivalent of Salibas?
Reiss Nelson scored a great goal against Bournemouth.
Yet any player in the division has the ability to score on a half volley. You can’t build a career on that one game.
I believe a talent should be judged based on their body of work from their last contract.
So, from 2018, how many great moments come to mind when the 23-year-old has been in an Arsenal shirt?
I can think of his sub appearance against Forest and obviously his moment against the Cherries.
Not a lot in the space of five years.
Those are the exception to the rule.
What’s a more honest reflection is his contribution in both legs of the Europa League last 16 round.
Against Lisbon, Arteta handed the midfielder responsibility, a chance to play under pressure.
He went missing.
Coming off the bench in the title race, he looked like a competition winner. Someone grateful to be on this stage rather than owning it.
That’s not a lot for 100,000 pound a week.
He made his debut for us 6 years ago so can no longer hide behind a lack of experience as an excuse.
A lot of talent the same age have progressed more.
He’s older than Saka!
Some will argue about a lack of opportunities, or injuriesor loans.
The fact is he’s played 127 professional games. More than enough matches to make a conclusion. How many great games has he truly had out of 127?
I had this debate regarding Maitland-Niles. He’s now a free agent and shock! – Barcelona and Real Madrid are yet to pick up the phone.
This time last year I questioned Eddie Nketiah’s salary.
4 league goals later (for 100,000 pound a week), if he’s sold, look at the calibre of club interested. Mostly those in the bottom half of the Prem.
Reiss Nelson wouldn’t get anywhere near Man City’s midfield.
Isn’t that the level we are aspiring to be?
I’m not sure if it’s because they graduated from the academy, but we have still got to be ruthless.
There’s nothing wrong with being grateful that one of our own can recoup a fee, but say that he’s just not good enough for a side with our ambitions.
Gooners can’t critique the likes of Ozil, Walcott and Giroud, players who won multiple trophies and played in the Champions League most years, then in the next breath defend players being paid 6 figures to sit on the sidelines, happy to play the odd cup tie, knowing full well they are limited.
Of course, the player can prove me wrong.
He won’t though…..
He will play in the Carabao Cup and next summer will be moaning about a lack of opportunities and then linked with a team in midtable.
We need a goal at the Etihad …. Do you trust Reiss Nelson?
Shouldn’t you be able to trust anyone on 100,000 pound a week!
Some think we have paid over the odds for Declan Rice.
When two players, around the same age as him, nowhere near an international cap are getting those wages ……you can’t say anything.
Dan Smith
Waiting For Declan!!! – Dublin Arsenal Supporters 22/23 ARSENAL MID-SUMMER REVIEW
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Let players leave on free transfers- “how could this happen, they don’t know what they’re doing!”
Sign players up to new contracts- “how could this happen, they don’t know what they’re doing!”
At the end of the day we don’t actually know for a fact what they are earning, it is, once again, press speculation. But let’s say, for argument’s sake, that they are indeed earning 100k a week. That’s £5.2m a year. At the end of this season Nketiah will have earned £10.4m (2 seasons since signing) and Nelson £5.2m. Both will more than likely be worth more than that if we decide to sell up, so what’s the issue?
Not really
Wolves were willing to pay 20 million for Niles
Eddie 2 years ago Palace were going to pay 10 million
Right, but their contracts were expiring so if they hadn’t re-signed they would have left for nothing. The question wasn’t whether we should have sold earlier (which I personally agree is the case for AMN), but whether they should have been given extensions.
I rather lose for free then pay for someone not good enough
But that doesn’t apply when the club negotiates to terminate a player’s contract?
No , just sell him when you can
Could have sold Eddie 2 years ago to palace for 10 million
And hindsight is always 20/20
Not hindsight
Lots of people said at the time Eddie is not good enough
Bro, Niles is another player and he was not extended. And yes, his management was an error. To just loan him, we should have sell him , of course. But it is always easy to rewrite things later. Anyway, we are talking about Nketiah and Nelson. Yes maybe Nketiah could have been sold 10m. And he could yet be sold, even for more.
Makes no sense because we never sell players for good money that we’ve resigned for that purpose. If you are extending so that you can sell for more, why put a huge wage in there that will clearly hinder any sales?
Because the average wage in the Premiership is over £60,000 a week, so a speculated £100k shouldn’t be a barrier to the sale?
100k are not huge wages for PL homegrown players, especially under 25yo.
100% agree ArGooner. People don’t really do calculus here. And on top of that, they are homegrown. Resigning them is just common financial sense AND I would also say footballistic sense because as far as I know they play squire decently for the “investment”. People should remember that we signed Lucas Perez for 17m or Willian for way more. So I prefer these 2 youngsters everyday instead of some journeymen that would even probably, cost more
That means Arsenal believe in Nelson’s and Nketiah’s potentials, despite their ages
Saliba is a talented homegrown player, but he wasn’t born and raised in London. Nketiah/ Nelson can inspire other London kids and that’s good for Arsenal’s local advertising campaign
I guess that’s also why Arsenal were willing to pay an obscene amount of money for Rice
Rice/Wenger story lol. Wenger was linked with all the best young talents (Messi, Ronaldo, Zlatan, Rice….). Instead, we saw Yaya Sanogo, Lucas Perez, Mustafi, park chu young and other players… I can’t really think about a youngster or good bargain buy that really came through and became a reliable starter in his last 10 years… As Nasri or Ox were already more or less proven.
Sign of the times I’m afraid
Transfer fees and wages are ridiculous and will only get worse .
Another great moment of him was when Nelson scored the winner against Liverpoo in their close bt no cigar ‘invincible campaign’ in 2020.
Dont undermine the contribution & importance of squad players esp considering their LOYALTY.
When a player gave the ball away and he scored ?
I saw Ricky Lambert score a goal once
Don’t mean he should play for Arsenal
And loyalty?
He ran down his contract to get paid over the odds
Hasn’t done it for free
When Ozil did that he was greedy ?
“He ran down his contract to get paid over the odds”. Not convinced he ran it down, more likely the club were evaluating and didn’t make an offer until last season, which, by the way, noone held a gun to their heads to do. I think you’re buying in to all the tabloid specuation again.
Joe Willpock was by far the superior of the trio followed by AMN, Reiss Nelson is the worst of the lot nd guess who we’ve ended up giving a 4yr contract to LMAO!!!
Feel a bit sorry for AMN coz I still think there’s a decent footballer in there somewhere nd woulda probably done a better job for us than Reiss Nelson.
Reiss was rated higher than Saka in the youth team, I believe. I remember the preseason under emery when people were excited to see Nelson playing (may have been because he was older and thought closer to first team ready), but Saka looked the more mature footballer – less flashy, but his decision making was already spot on.
AMN has been let go on a free. Not a single Premier league team seem to be even willing to get themselves such a bargain.
May be he is just not good enough. Been given chance after chance to prove himself but seems to have hit his ceiling that does not seem to be EPL quality.
How come he has failed to attract any team to sign him permanently? Most teams seems to just pass him on..
When they did, we refuse to sell. but atleast he still atrract more money than the players mentioned.
No transfer fee usually means more scope for paid wages. Just the way it works. Don’t get the negativity tbh luckily you and some of the commenters are in a shrinking minority. Roll on the 12th of August.
AMN is the one that got away. Not for his ability but because his lack of drive.
He went to Roma and sat on the bench. Went to Southampton and when I saw him he was hit and miss. Tracking back was not his greatest strength.
RN when I saw him in Holland was a starter and made the European final.
If the £100k is true then that’s a heck of a lot of money but he caN do a job for us and we will hopefully be fighting on all 4 fronts.
Maybe it’s a xhaka situation where we give a longer contract, upped his money and sell him for decent money in the future
The world of football ⚽️ has gone mad and it certainly not in touch with reality but we love it all the same
You might be right on that cos i remember people saying on here that will won’t get 15M for Xhaka, that we should sell for 10M or give him out for free.
Now we got 21M for him. Shows how much people know about the future.
@ Dan
The fact is he scored. Any other player could have failed. Nelson is Arsenal to the core. I cant say so much about u.
I don’t think u will lambast any of ur own children if they are a just average @ school albeit they passes. I bet u would still show them love.
You sound like someone who supports another team.Also your logic wrt Wolves & Palace doesn’t make sense. Because if we did sell them it would have cost the club a lot more taking into consideration the transfer fee & wages involved. Not all players in a squad should be above average. U need players who are willing to stay on the bench & be able to contribute when called upon. Reiss fits that category like a glove.
He’s not my child though ?
Hes a player and I have a right as a stakeholder of the club to want the very best at my club
These are fair points, and I don’t think he should be paid that much – crazy if that’s true tbh. I did want us to renew him but was expecting he’d be paid a bit more than half that amount, at most.
Only slight nit pick i have is with this: “We need a goal at the Etihad …. Do you trust Reiss Nelson?” – I trust that he can turn things at least slightly more in our favour if we throw him on from the bench, more so than just about anyone else in our squad. I could be proved wrong in time, but i do think he’s extremely good off the bench, which is a rare and useful attribute, but not one worth 100k pw imo.
I support you on this
THE VERY BEST!! Good luck on that mission. But since you are just a minor stakeholder im afraid you will fail dismally in that quest & rightfully so.
Having a team of Galacticos is a recipe for DISASTER. Ask Madrid.
Yeah Real Madrid don’t win anything ?
Not asking for Galaticos just better then players who for years have proven they are not good enough
Madrid has for more than a decade abolished the Galacticos philosophy as it couldnt land them the El’decima ie.10th UCL crown.
ps. i thought u wanted the BEST! Now its better.
The goal posts has been shifted.
Well yes quite obviously mate I don’t want my players at the club who are not very good ?
Do you ?
I think neither Eddy Nketiah nor Nelson fit into the long term scheme of things at Arsenal but, they both currently fill up important cover-up slots, with a good understanding of the new and traditional culture of the team.
Yeah Madrid just signed lesser known players like Ronaldo and Bale lol
So, if 100k per week is too much, what is the market rate? According to the figures I found the average salary for a forward aged 23-29 (as Nketiah and Nelson both are), was £4.03m, or around 70k per week, in 2019/2020. I think we can assume that that ammount has only increased to 2023/24, so the club is perhaps paying 10-20% above market rate for players that came through the academy, what’s the big deal?
Sorry, I meant the average was £77.5k per week
Don’t pay them anything
It’s been years , we know they are not good enough at this point
Gakpo is on 60k
Julan Alvarez 50K
Watkins 70k
March 45k
Almiron 42k
Diaz is on 56-60k
Isak 120k
Benrahma 55k
Wilson 46k
Bowen 60k
Jota 140k
Maximin 38k
Cornet 60k
Enciso& Mitoma 10k
Willock 80k
Olise 47k
Eze 30k
Milner was on 60k
Mitrovic 80k
Mateta 50k
Pereirra 50k
Richarlison 90k
Truth be told, majority of these players are more accomplished than Reiss and Eddie. 100k/w for Reiss and Eddie is effing crazy
I wouldn’t disagree with you on the fact that a majority are more accomplished but one thing you failed to mention is that most come with a fee and some with decent size price tags.
When taking that in to consideration then the wage we paY is more palatable even though it is still too much
Fees get paid to the club, wages to the player. Players couldn’t care less about their fees if they aren’t happy with the wages.
Fact remains there are much better players on lower wages.
Players absolutely 100% know that their transfer fee will affect their demands. A player moving on a free transfer will always ask for more as they know the club is saving on their transfer fee for example.
Agreed. However, both players should never have entered their final years. We couldn’t make up our minds until it was too late.
Gakpo is on £120k a week.
Jota is on £192k a week.
Those were the two I bothered to look at.
When you are trying to argue that our players are not worth their salary at least be honest in your argument.
You are right – FIFA is a joke…
@Me2
My comment is awaiting approval ’cause of the link I just posted. Statista dot com is one of the most credible sources of consumer data. They don’t do click baits.
Also try acting like a grownup
@ Me2
here’s the link
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1369616/liverpool-fc-player-salaries/
It’s a good thing to have debates but debates should be based on facts and not speculation. As far as I’m aware,the specifics of the contracts between Arsenal and the two players you’ve mentioned are not in the public domain.If everything we read on the internet were true,the likes of Higuain and Benzema would have played for Arsenal at some point.
I also don’t get the preoccupation with wages and transfer fees – that’s is usually the culmination of negotiations between an employer and employee or buyer and seller. As a fan, I’m only interested in the footballing aspect of a player. There are many things that are obviously considered when contracts are awarded and I would like to believe the club has experts who assess the financial implications of the contracts before awarding them.
As some of us have mentioned,signing the two players is smart business for the club. No matter their wages,they still are more likely to be sold for a profit in the future which is good in terms of balancing the books for FFP. The other option would have meant losing them for free and that doesn’t help the club in a financial sense . In addition to this,both players count as homegrown which means the club would have had to replace them with homegrown players. Have you considered how much it would cost to buy a new English striker plus winger? If you do the math for buying the new players(transfer fees +wages), the Nelson and Eddie deals will suddenly look cheap. And there not many such players out there. Having to buy another two players may have also meant that Arsenal would not have the funds to invest in positions that were considered priority. Would it make sense to you if Arsenal had to buy a winger like Harvey Barnes for say 40m and Watkins for say 40m if that meant not getting Rice ?
From a footballing perspective, it is my opinion that Eddie and Nelson have done relatively well when called upon. Nelson’s performances in Europa can be attributed to the team being disjointed and lacking chemistry-all the players looked subpar in these matches so it’s not fair to judge a player based on them. Whenever Nelson played in the Epl,he looked lively whenever he came on and the goals and assists he got in the limited time reflect this. As for Eddie,he performed well when Jesus got injured. In fact there was an article on this site which was calling for him to be the substantive number 9 even after Jesus returned and there were many fans who agreed. That is how well Eddie was performing. His form dipped after some time but that has now been attributed to him playing while carrying an injury.
Great post 👍👏👏👏
A much more insightful and balanced piece than the article, that’s for sure.
You want me to name games where they didn’t make an impact in the league
Dan you are free to name such games where they supposedly didn’t have an impact. But how do you come to the conclusion that they didn’t have an impact? That is the most important question. The answer to this question is not that simple – different people will have different opinions/answers. Perhaps you equate scoring goals or assisting them, but is it that simple? Is impact limited to just goals and assists? Can an attacking player be said to have impacted a game without registering goals and/or assists?
I have watched matches where Eddie came on towards the end of a game and his relentless pressing and running kept the opposition defenders pinned in their own half. This kind of impact cannot be quantified. The work rate often goes unappreciated yet the fresh legs from the likes of Eddie often has had the effect of shifting the momentum back to Arsenal during the latter stages of game when the opposition raise their game.
Finally,I would like to say that it’s unrealistic to expect a forward player to get into the rhythm of the game and score goals with five to ten minutes remaining. One of the criticisms Arteta has faced is late substitutions. What do you expect Nketiah to do in five minutes? Score a hat trick? What even makes it harder to score in the closing stages, especially when the team has a lead,is that the team usually switches into a defensive mode or just keeping the ball at the back to frustrate opponents. Other than instances where the team has a commanding lead, it’s poor game management to go all out on attack because this exposes the team to counter attacks.
You’re leading 2-1 away at Everton,the wise thing to do is to pass it around at the back or run to the corner flag to run down the minutes (something Eddie usually does to help the team). Under such circumstances, the impact of a substitute,in my opinion, is their willingness to press and win the ball back, ability to retain possession, helping the team run down the clock through time-wasting(I know it is unethical but I’m afraid it has to be done to protect a lead) and helping defensively. When the team is looking for a winner or equalizer,it’s different of course. This is where I feel Nelson has done well – he was even recognized by the league for it despite the small sample size. This shows that there weren’t any players (arguably) who had the impact Nelson had from the bench. In Eddie,you have a player who can impact the game by helping protect a lead,whereas in Nelson,you have a player who can help you get goal to go level or take the lead.
Okay so a striker should score goals an midfielder is nelsons position should assist
If you you judge them over years now they don’t consistently do that
If they don’t do that they what else do they do ?
So Giroud wasnr a great finisher but could hold up ball , link play
Jesus will come deep , go wide , hold ball
Eddie and Reiss to me don’t have an outstanding quality
Dan I think a player,position notwithstanding,should help their team win a match while also play good football(after all football is a form of entertainment. I already mentioned the qualities that I believe the two players bring to the squad in my second reply-I will not repeat that. I also have no illusions about the two players – I know they have their limitations ,some of which can be improved on. What I’m getting from your end is that these two players bring nothing to the squad and are unlikely to improve – you’ll forgive if I made the wrong assumption/conclusion. As long as they are Arsenal players,I’ll support them and hope they do well for the team.
For the record,I liked Giroud. I believe he offered something unique to the squad but had his limitations as well. The thing is,I don’t think it’s possible or practical to have world class players everywhere,including the bench. Even the Madrid side that won three Champions League titles had players like Nacho and Vasquez who are not world class,but could do a job to help the team whenever needed. Their current side has someone like Ceballos for a similar role.
Mate I’ll support them as well
But there is a difference between not having every player who is world class compared to giving 100-000 pound a week to players who most likely wouldnt get in the first 11 of most prem clubs
As i said we had this with Maitalnd Niles ….where’s he now ?
We had this 12 months ago with Eddie 4 league goals later , some are now saying sell him so Balogun can play
“As far as I’m aware,the specifics of the contracts between Arsenal and the two players you’ve mentioned are not in the public domain.”
I think this is the key point – we can only assess this on what is reportedly true, which isn’t the same as what is actually true!
” I also don’t get the preoccupation with wages and transfer fees – that’s is usually the culmination of negotiations between an employer and employee or buyer and seller. As a fan, I’m only interested in the footballing aspect of a player. ”
This is where you lose me. There’s several reasons to be interested, however the most important are as follows:
– it’s crucial we get contracts right for squad harmony and encourage the right mentality. I believe the increase in wages for younger, unproven players starting long ago under wenger, played a huge role in our decline. It made players too comfortable and gave them the impression they’d ‘made it’ before they really had. Denilson is the first name that comes to mind, but i honestly think Walcott could have been a far better player had he not been gifted so much in terms of money and first team opportunities – and there’s many more. It can also create jealousy and discontent if weaker players are getting paid as much or more than regular first team players – doesn’t make sense. We should be incentivising players to get better by improving their deals in line with their performance, not because they’re home grown or because they might be better in the future – if we do that, we get stuck with inadequate, poorly motivated players (not EVERY time, but we’re more likely to on average). And it’s not always easy to sell on unwanted players – if they can’t get such high wages elsewhere, and they can’t make it in our team (can’t play for a big club), why wouldn’t they just train and collect their inflated contract? Again, some will be motivated to play, and so will leave, others won’t. And clubs aren’t going to spend decent money on players who never play for us when we want to shift them, regardless hour good we think they are. They’ll bid low and we’ll accept every time because it’s better than letting them go for free (so maybe it’s better to let them go for free before giving them the big contract, huh?)
– how sustainable is it too continually increase the salaries of squad players? The wages just keep going up and up and up – do we really believe there’s no breaking point?
I do think some of the negativity towards the on field performances of Eddie and Nelson (I actually still have high hopes for Reiss tbh) has been excessive at times, and I accept you might be right that their contacts probably aren’t as big as had been made out – I’m disagreeing on the principle.
Davi I get your point – you make a lot of sense regarding motivation and squad harmony.I hope that the club will not let contracts run out in the future because whenever a player signs for free,they usually can negotiate for a higher basic salary than they are worth due to their signing not impacting the transfer budget- we have a good example of Kolasinac who was on a relatively high wage relative to those he found at the club who had been good servants of the club. Free agency, in my opinion,is becoming a problem in world sports as it gives tremendous bargaining power to players and their often greedy agents.
I would also like to believe that the reported wages are inclusive of performance related bonuses. If indeed there are portions of the wages that are tied to the achievement of certain targets, then that should provide sufficient incentives for the players to perform. Unlike Wenger, Arteta has shown that he doesn’t condone complacency. I do hope Eddie and Nelson will perform well for the club or generate good money if/when they are sold,should that happen. For what it’s worth,I think both players have shown a willingness to do their best whenever called upon. Having a connection to the club should push them to do better.
👍
“For what it’s worth,I think both players have shown a willingness to do their best whenever called upon. Having a connection to the club should push them to do better.”
Agree with this, though we’ll have to see with Reiss next season – we always have to be careful with this approach. Even if they have a connection to the club, we don’t know what other influences they have.
Very sensible response. Thank you.
I wouldn’t have paid Nketiah or Reiss Nelson anywhere near their reported salaries
Fine as squad players but I find that neither have convinced me they are starting material which makes earning approximately £5m a year money for old rope
@Dan
You started off by saying u wanted the ‘VERY BEST’. Then u accepted ‘BETTER’. But fnally you have conceided to ‘VERRY GOOD’.
So my answer to your 1st & most pertinent question is Yes!!, i want very good players bt im also content with good.
Better than bad is good. Bad is not good enough. If they are very good then they are better & if they are better than good then they are the best. Because the team hasnt won anything i cant say the players are the best. But some are good & others are better. Together they all strive to be the best. (just because ur pinky finger is smaller or is less productive then the others does nt mean it should be undermined)
Wrt Madrid the team that won La Decima included the likes of Contrao, Arbeola, Isco & Modric etc. All of whom who wouldnt have been considered as Galacticos upon their arrival.
But Ronaldo , Bale , Modric , Benzema , Krose , Hazard, Rodriguez etc were not cheap
It’s not about every player needing to be the best
But after prolong period of time they prove they are not good enough then what the point keeping them ?
I had this debate about Maitalnd Niles and he was eventually released , missing out on a fee
Mikel Arteta clearly fancies and highly regards both players. Something that he sees in training everyday. But as we all know, it’s a different case applying the same form during an EPL game. Probably more mental demand than talent demand. Their wages will put necessary pressure on them to start performing and that’s a good thing. The transition from boy to man requires pain and suffering. Their ultimate salvation will be their sense of glory. A good example for the rest of the up and coming Arsenal youngsters.
To say Nelson isn’t good enough is a matter of opinion. Arteta & a lot of fans disagree with your stance. We obviously see something you don’t.
‘not everyone needs to be the best’ is basically a statement that agrees with my point exactly. Madrid had a mixture of the best & good players.
Whether you realize it or not, every team has got a combination of good & very good players. Its simply about relativity. No English soccer player can be regarded as the best cause the nation hasnt won any international trophy since the 60’s & i havnt seen anyone bag the ballon dor.
The other fact which you are oblivious too are rules regarding homegrown players. All clubs should have a certain # in their squads. If Nelson should play for Forests he would propably be their best player bt at us he is just good enough but content on sitting on the bench & help out if needed.
One of the the biggest overlooked issues is how the requirements for home grown players influences the transfer strategy of a club. The arguments by this author and many others on this site suggest that they do not properly account for this issue. I suspect many do not discuss it as they probably don’t fully understand it.
Of course its a matter of opinion ?
Who said otherwise
I can’t believe that Gabriel is on 50k a week and Nelson and Nketiah are both on 100k. It should be closer to the other way around as Gabriel is an important first-team member with a buxom buddy partnership and his partner is on so much more money too
Dan im just glad ur opinion is nt the deciding factor.