Back in January, Mikel Arteta added another name to his list of Arsenal outcasts, as Sead Kolasinac saw his contract terminated by mutual consent.
The Bosnia international joined Mesut Özil and Shkodran Mustafi on the Gunners scrapheap, and was eventually picked up by Marseille.
Unfortunately, things haven’t been easy for Kolasinac in France.
What’s the story?
Well, the 28-year-old should’ve had no issues settling in at Marseille, as two familiar faces in Matteo Guendouzi and William Saliba are there.
Sadly, their presence hasn’t been enough to help Kolasinac perform.
The left-back is yet to complete an entire 90 minutes, as he continues to be withdrawn by Jorge Sampaoli more often than not.
Constantly being substituted wouldn’t be so much of an issue if Kolasinac were an attacking player.
However, a member of the backline is rarely subbed off unless an injury occurs, so Kolasinac is clearly struggling to impress.
Across his 15 appearances for Marseille so far, the longest amount of time Kolasinac has stayed on the pitch has been 78 minutes, which came in a UEFA Conference League first leg win over FC Basel.
He was left on the bench for the second leg.
Arsenal were right to offload Sead Kolasinac
It seems harsh to say, but if Kolasinac’s struggles at Marseille tell us anything, it’s that Arteta was right to get rid of him.
Of course, some might argue the opposite, as Nuno Tavares has struggled to perform in the absence of Kieran Tierney.
However, there are no guarantees that Kolasinac would’ve done any better than the Portuguese defender.
In our view, Arteta is more than aware that he needs another left-back.
It has been said that the Gunners have made contact with Bologna over a deal for Aaron Hickey, who has shone at left-back in Italy this season.
In fact, it has even been suggested that the Scottish defender will replace Tavares.
The 19-year-old has impressively scored five goals in 33 Serie A appearances, while also providing one assist.
Keep an eye on this situation, as we expect Arsenal to sign another left-back this summer.
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