How West Ham's Reiss Nelson odds have shortened as rivals' chances revealed

West Ham United's path to signing Reiss Nelson is getting clearer.

The 26-year-old winger has been touted to West Ham over recent days, as Nuno Espirito Santo plots some last-minute additions.

He's been with Arsenal since the age of nine, but has never quite been able to carve out a consistent first-team role at the Emirates.

The ex-England youth international has never played outside of a top European league, thus highlighting the potential coup West Ham could be getting.

West Ham's recruitment drive has really kicked into gear over the last few weeks, with numerous quality signings made to their forward line.

And now, Nuno could now have a clear run at making what could be one of the signings of the Championship's summer transfer window.

Which West Ham rival is set to drop out of Reiss Nelson transfer race?

It was announced on Thursday that Nelson and Arsenal agreed to mutually end his contract.

Now a free agent, that's naturally made West Ham's chances of signing him considerably less complicated.

But given his profile and the fact he's now in the prime of his career, it was never just going to be the Irons interested in signing him.

Foot Mercato's live transfer blog on Friday has detailed the fact Marseille made an approach to sign Nelson two weeks ago.

However, the update now claims that whilst he's expected to join a new team soon, that's 'probably not' going to be Marseille.

This is a huge boost for West Ham, as the French Ligue 1 side are a huge club with plenty of financial resource and pulling power behind them.

But if they're now out of the running, Nelson may see West Ham as his best possible option.

So, if Nelson does sign at the London Stadium, how likely is it that he'll hit the ground running in E20?

How did Nelson fare in pre-season with Arsenal?

Having spent the 2025-26 season on loan with Brentford, Nelson returned to Arsenal this summer hoping to impress Mikel Arteta.

Unfortunately, he would only make two appearances for the Gunners in pre-season, and failed to provide a goal contribution in any.

He's not played more than 45 minutes in a single game in any competition since an FA Cup tie against Macclesfield on 16 February this year.

So, even if he does join West Ham, it's likely he'll take a good few weeks to build up his match fitness before he's ready to make a real impact.