Reiss Nelson Reveals Why He Left Arsenal For Hoffenheim

Reiss Nelson has revealed why he elected to leave Arsenal for Hoffenheim in his season-long loan move.

For those following his career, it’s fair to say that Reiss Nelson has made a good start to his career in Hoffenheim.

The youngster has grabbed three goals for the Bundesliga side in just six appearances and even scored on his England Under-21s debut on Thursday night.

Now, the 18-year-old has revealed why he elected to head on that season-long loan deal to Germany instead of remaining at Arsenal.

“A loan wasn’t always my first option,” Nelson told theFA.com.

“But when I heard the Bundesliga and Hoffenheim was an option for me and working with the manager there, it was something I wanted to do.

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“Julian [Nagelsmann] is a great manager and he’s got belief in young players so it’s a good place for me to go and play.

“He’s very young, he’s only 31 and I think it’s important to go to a team and a coach who believes in you, so he was the main reason because he is willing to play us.

“It was hard to leave my boyhood club Arsenal, it’s still my dream to play for Arsenal, but I know I have to put that on hold and go and play abroad to get some experience in Germany.

“So I’m trying to do my stuff there, get stronger and come back ready to play for Arsenal’s first team, so I had to take the opportunity to go there.”

It’s good to see young English players like Reiss Nelson taking the leap and playing abroad. Too few British players end up playing outside of the country and Nelson will only benefit from the experience. Hopefully, the 18-year-old will learn as much as he can from Julian Nagelsmann and Hoffenheim before returning to the Arsenal first team in a year or two.