Mikel Arteta has hinted that Arsenal could be about to begin their summer sales following the arrival of Oleksandr Zinechnko, the Gunners’ fourth arrival of the transfer window.
Speaking to Football London after Arsenal’s 3-1 pre-season friendly win against Orlando City, the 40-year-old manager revealed that the club will soon be looking making some wholesale summer changes in the form of departures, with the Gunners having numerous players who seemingly have no future at the club.
Bernd Leno, Hector Bellerin, and Nicolas Pepe are just a handful of players who Arsenal reportedly want to sell this summer, with Pablo Mari, Lucas Torreira and Ainsley Maitland-Niles also on that list, with the Gunners so far managing to offload not a single senior figure.
Summer sales have notoriously been difficult for Arsenal over the years, with the Gunners struggling big time to offload their high-earners for decent fees, with the club in recent windows resorting to buying players out of their contracts or mutually terminating their deals.
Whilst there’s been no sign of Arsenal doing this yet with any player, there’s a good chance this could happen come the end of August when summer sales reach their apex, and for Arteta, the process to offload those who are surplus to requirements will begin very shortly.
Arteta said when asked about outgoings: “I don’t know, it’s what we have today, and as well we have a large squad, so we have to make some decisions on the players that we’re not going to be using consistently and be fair and straight with them, and that’s a process that’s going to start very soon, as well.”
Arsenal have to work fast to get through all their summer sales
As mentioned, Arsenal have a lot of players on their books who can do with leaving the Emirates Stadium for good this summer, and with just over a month to go before the end of the window, Arteta has seemingly left himself short on time to get through most of these deals.
With as many as six first-team players that could be moved on, Arteta and Arsenal are already fighting against the clock to sell most of these names, especially given how tedious the north London side makes the practice if previous deals are anything to go by.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
