Clearly, Reiss Nelson’s goal was all a bit much for me. Surfing on a wave of excitement, I extolled the virtues of his winning goal against Bournemouth that kept our title challenge alive. 

And then… nothing. I don’t know why. But I stopped blogging again, thereby missing recording the agony of falling short (along with the glee at coming second and getting back into the Champions League).

And then I missed it all again, swerving the quill for the entirety of this season, during which we came second again but only by several points, and were better in almost all discernible ways. Almost.

But enough about me, what about poor old Reiss Nelson? His cameo may well have sealed his place in the Arsenal hall of fame, but at the time you’d have been forgiven for thinking that it may have been a kick-start for his Arsenal career.

And then what? He played just 257 minutes of league football this season, starting just once, and had one shot on goal. His sole goal came in the League Cup.

His rocket that day in March 2023 turned out to be his high-water mark for the club – I think we can say that now, barring some unlikely change of fortune. I suppose it’s not a bad way to be remembered, but his career has hit the buffers and at 24 years old, he desperately needs regular football. It seems almost impossible to see him here next year (and it would be a waste of his talent too).

As we sit back and enjoy the glow of a season that, as a fan, was about as enjoyable as it can get, we see many winners, from this season’s new boys Declan Rice, David Raya and Kai Havertz, to the rock solid partnership of Gabriel and Saliba, and beyond to White, Saka, Odegaard and Trossard. 

Reiss Nelson, sadly, was not among them, and that is the brutal reality of competing at the highest level.