Two senior players on their way out?

The other day we looked at 3 players definitely leaving the Emirates, but could two more senior players be on their way out? Arsenal are used to losing some of their best players so the following two players leaving may not be the end of the world for the North London outfit.

Mikel Arteta

The Spanish midfielder has been a regular for Arsenal this season and has been relatively consistent, but his performance against the big teams and his tendency to disappear when the team is struggling have left many fans calling for a replacement to be brought in. If such a replacement is bought in then you have to feel that Arteta will make way and leave the club where he can command a first team place. Real Madrid’s Khedira, Maxime Gonalons and Southampton’s Morgan Schniederlin have all been linked with the club in a holding role which has been highlighted as an area needed for improvement. Will Arteta stay and fight for a place? I have my doubts simply because he would walk into the first XI of many other top division sides across Europe.

Thomas Vermaelen

It seems strange to be discussing the departure of both the club captain and vice-captain but the case of Vermaelen is very similar to that of his deputy Arteta. The Belgian footballer has struggled to break up the partnership of Koscielny and Mertesacker at the heart of the Arsenal defence and, quite rightly, he will probably leave in search of regular first team football at a decent level. Wenger may find it hard to replace the Belgian, and upsetting the most fragile and thinly covered part of the Arsenal team might not be the best way to go about things. If AW can convince Vermaelen to stay one more year as part of a rotating central defence that could work, however Wenger is known to strive for consistency in these key areas and if he can find a good value option to slot in to the squad as a centre-back cover he would willingly let the Belgian go…at the right price of course.

Will any other players be leaving the Arsenal squad? Stay up to date and follow us on Facebook and Google+.