It’s fair to say this summers transfer window has well and truly heated up in the Premier League, and let’s not forget, we’re still in July.
However, despite the stellar £11million signing of Petr Cech, it’s been a story of farewells for Arsenal fans, who have already seen four first team players depart the club this summer.
Lukas Podolski sealed his inevitable move to Galatassary earlier in the month, and took his £100,000 a week baggage with him, which was simply eating into Arsene Wenger’s transfer plans.
We’ve finally seen the back of Abou Diaby, who was released from the club following an overwhelming amount of injuries, which ultimately left the midfielder as a sitting duck.
But most interesting of all our transfer activity is how much the Arsenal boss has utilised the loan system in recent seasons, as he looks to send background squad members out for vital playing time.
The latest names on the loanee list are Carl Jenkinson (West Ham) and Yaya Sanogo (Ajax), who have successfully sealed season-long loan spells for the 2015/16 season.
And with competition for a starting place in the team higher than ever, attention is now being turned to who Wenger might add to that list of players heading away from the Emirates.
The sole aim for Wenger’s transfer plans was always to have 2-3 players in each position on the pitch, and now that our squad depth is looking stable, this seems to be as good a time as any to send players out for vital experience.
Fresh Arsenal’s Curtis Goff has picked out three Gunners who he feels need to stretch their legs fully at another Premier League club, just click on the page tablets below and let us know what you think in the comments section.
1) Serge Gnabry
You’ll be easily forgiven if you forgot that Gnabry was still at the club, after missing nearly a whole season through injury.
The 20-year-old joined up with the Gunners back in 2012 and has since made 19 appearances with the first team, ten of which coming from off of the bench.
Playing as an out-and-out right-winger hasn’t helped Gnabry’s situation at Arsenal, and Wenger has been reluctant to play him on a regular basis.
That is reason enough for the German Under-21 to head out on loan, after having his chances squashed by the likes of Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey.
A chance to head out on loan will help Gnabry recover from a tough 2014/15 campaign, after suffering a serious knee injury which he only returned from in mid-April.
Despite the year he’s endeavoured, the youngster managed to fly off to the Czech Republic for this years Under-21 European Championships, and is now ready to continue his regular minutes on the field.
Several fans felt the reason for his absence in the Singapore tour was because Wenger had lost faith in him, but it turns out he still remains on his holidays after returning from the tournament.
His next job will be to find a club who can offer regular football, with his wages of around £30,000 a week not being a stumbling block for any Premier League club.
Potential suitors include West Brom, Crystal Palace and newly promoted Bournemouth, but it’s the Hawthorns club who have reportedly made an approach.
Tony Pulis’ side look to have failed in their attempts to sign QPR man, Matty Phillips, and the loan signing of Gnabry would be a second best option, and significantly cheaper than the £8m QPR are asking for.
West Brom can offer realistic competition for a place in the first team, and with that comes a wealth of Premier League experience.
They challenged some of the top sides since Pulis took over halfway through the season and we can be sure that Gnabry will learn from his time at The Baggies.
Wenger has expressed his admiration for Pulis’ style of managing, and the well-disciplined Englishman tells it exactly how it is, so there is no chance of Gnabry getting carried away with being an ‘instant’ name on the starting sheet.
If we sit back and realise who the winger has to take on at Arsenal this season, then we can all agree that he won’t find many minutes in this squad, a season-long loan option is a must.