Saturday, September 18, 2021 at 2:43 PM• Daniel Cabot Kerkdijk • Last update: 14:50

Arne Slot’s statements about Reiss Nelson’s fitness have also reached Mikel Arteta. The Feyenoord coach acknowledged on Friday that it is difficult to explain the physical condition of the Arsenal mercenary. “The bottom line is that he’s really good conditionally, but that’s different from being used to playing matches and undergoing a certain kind of training,” Slot explained.

That has partly to do with the role that Nelson had at Arsenal. “There he was part of the selection, but there they did a lot of 11-on-eleven and he belonged to the team that had to imitate the opponent. Then you have to walk a bit like the trainer wants you to walk” continued Slot. “He has not played any games. The intensity of our exercises may have happened there, but he wasn’t there.”

Last week, in the run-up to the Conference League match with Maccabi Haifa (0-0), Slot explained that Nelson experiences the training sessions in Rotterdam as ‘spicier’. “He was struggling with an overuse injury.” Arteta wondered in conversation with English media on Saturday whether the quotes are correct, although that is simply the case: “First of all, I think his words have been taken a bit out of context. What I can say is that we STATsports have a brilliant company that has been measuring the intensity of our workouts for the last ten or twelve years,” said the Spaniard.

“In the past three years we have had the most intensive training ever. The intensive training sessions are focused on volume. This is something completely different. That’s why we have a great team, a sports science team, that I have complete confidence in. They are great employees. I hope Reiss will get fit and put the injury pain behind him. He can do well at Feyenoord, he is a top talent,” emphasizes Arteta.

Nelson has played for Arsenal almost all his life. He entered the London club’s youth academy at the age of nine and made his first-team debut at the age of 17. The counter is now at 48 duels in the main force. In 2018/19 he was loaned to TSG Hoffenheim, where he played no fewer than 29 Bundesliga matches. He has not played at Feyenoord for the time being.