It’s been an excellent couple of weeks in the transfer market for Arsenal. The Gunners have signed William Saliba, Dani Ceballos and most recently they have broken their transfer record to bring in Ivory Coast forward Nicolas Pepe.
Get ready to see this ? pic.twitter.com/8RGr2Xx3qO
— Fresh Arsenal (@Fresh_Arsenal) August 2, 2019
But with areas still to strengthen, the club must begin to look at offloading players. We’ve seen Bielik join Derby for a deal worth up to £10million, and that will help kick things off. But there is plenty more deadwood in this Arsenal squad to shed.
So who should be sold? It’s been well documented that Shkodran Mustafi is up for sale, with the Gunners willing to listen to offers for the German world cup winner. After spending £35million to sign him, the club would be somewhat fortunate to recoup any more than half of that fee.
Hopefully the team can raise a decent amount of funds from the potential sales of Mustafi, Elneny and Koscielny. Mkhitaryan must be considering his future, also. #AFC
— PB (@OliPriceBates) August 2, 2019
Also there’s the case of Laurent Koscielny who wants to leave the club for nothing, but Arsenal are quite rightly demanding a fee to release him. Considering his age and contract situation, the club would do well to recoup anything more than £5million for him.
As the club look to flush out older players and decrease the average age of the squad, Henrikh Mkhitaryan is another player who could be moved on in the latter stages of the window. With the likes of Saka, Nelson, Martinelli and now Pepe competing for the wide spots, Mkhitaryan’s game time will surely be limited and whilst the 30-year-old still has value it may be a good time to move him on.
If you’re gambling on soccer this season then Arsenal is starting to look like a good bet to finish in the top four. With Emery in his second season and with new signings better suited to his style of play, you can expect the team to improve on their points tally that fell so narrowly short last season. If you are someone who likes to have a bet here and there, checking out https://betting.com/sports-betting can show you all about sports betting and what it entails.
If the club manages to sign a central defender and a left-back before the window closes then you would expect Arsenal to certainly finish in that top four and who knows, maybe go one better in the Europa League.
With Hector Bellerin now nearly back to full fitness, it is possible that Carl Jenkinson may be viewed as surplus to requirements, with Ainsley Maitland-Niles able to deputize for the Spanish full-back.
Again it will be difficult for Arsenal to raise much from Jenkinson’s sale but given the current climate and the fact he is English, a fee of £5million-£10million is not too crazy to think about. Especially when you consider the hype from the fans. In fact, many are already going to Augusta Free Press to look up tips for where to place those bets for the next season.
The same can be said for midfielder Mohammed Elneny, who will have been pushed further down the pecking order following the arrival of Dani Ceballos and the promotion of Joe Willock. The Egyptians were already behind the likes of Granit Xhaka, Lucas Torreira, and Matteo Guendouzi in the pecking order.
Arsenal has little over a week to finalize their transfer business and with fans still hoping for a couple of arrivals, there will need to be a few out the door, too.