Which Arsenal Players Are On Their Way Out

Unai Emery has already brought five new players into the Arsenal squad this summer and he’s going to have to offload a few of the players he has to cover at least some of their transfer fees and wages as well as keeping the squad at a workable size. Of course Jack Wilshere has already left to join West Ham as he decided the new manager wasn’t going to give him as much game time as he wanted. We didn’t get a fee for Wilshere though as he was at the end of his contract and I would imagine any new purchases will have to be funded by players leaving.

We also saw the departure of Jeff Reine-Adelaide to Angers today, but he can hardly be considered a loss from the first team squad. He was a player with a lot of promise a few seasons ago, but we rarely got to see what he could do mainly because of a series of injuries. It’s hard to know how he will fare, but you have to at least wish him well for the future.

If the rumours are to be believed there are a few more players who the manager considers to be surplus to requirements and he is currently listening to offers for some of them. With so many defensive players already arriving it would surely be safe to assume we will be seeing the back of one or two of the defenders we have. Shkodran Mustafi had a fairly torrid time last season and the influx of central defenders could well see him on his way, but the ongoing injury to Laurent Koscielny might mean he stays put.

There has also been plenty of talk of Nacho Monreal retuning to Spain, but the manager seems reluctant to sell a player who was our most consistent defender last season. If Sead Kolasinac can make the left back berth his own it could see the departure of Monreal, but I think we will keep him for this season at least. Besides those two I can’t see any other possibilities for defenders leaving and I would even be surprised if either of them were sold.

The arrival of Bernd Leno has left us top heavy with goalkeepers though and I would be surprised if we didn’t sell at least one of them. Petr Cech has been linked with a return to Chelsea, but they opted to sign Rob Green instead while David Ospina is as always being linked with most of the clubs in Turkey. I think we need to sell at least one of them and given the choice I would opt to sell Ospina before Cech.

Of course the contract negotiations with Aaron Ramsey are still ongoing and getting him to extend his contract could be our best piece of business this summer. With the transfer window closing in two weeks we need to tie him down as quickly as possible or we will have to spend big to replace him in the current market. We just cannot allow him to run his contract down like both Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil did last season.

With Granit Xhaka due back from his World Cup duties soon there has been some speculation that he might be surplus to requirements. It’s something I can’t see myself and I would be very surprised if he isn’t a big part in Emery’s plans for now and the future too. He has his detractors and he hasn’t always been at his best for us, but I think he’s a player with an awful lot to offer.

Lucas Perez is yet another player who’s future could be uncertain, but the early signs are the boss is prepared to give him a chance. He was certainly persona non grata last season, but the new regime seems prepared to let him prove his worth. The sales of Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott in January and the possible sale of Danny Welbeck must surely keep a place open for another attacking player in the squad and Perez could be that player.

Welbeck is probably the last player who the boss is looking at offloading this summer and it wouldn’t surprise if he was sold. I don’t think he’s quite up to the level we want to play at and it would make sense to cash in on one of the rare occasions when he is actually fit. We’ll probably have to wait for him to come back from his World Cup duties before anything happens, but he certainly has to be a candidate for the exit door in the next two weeks.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.