Arsenal Can Take Advantage Of Their Own Issues With Ross Barkley

Arsenal have allowed many of their star players’ contracts to wind down. Everton have done the same with Ross Barkley. Could the Gunners now take advantage?

Paul Merson, working in his role as a pundit for Sky Sports, when discussing the spate of Arsenal and their dwindling contract, said something extremely poignant and powerful; even damning to Arsene Wenger and the current regime.

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Merson revealed that when he was at the club during the 1990s, his contract never came close to expiring. Whenever it reached close to two years remaining, a new deal was thrashed out almost immediately, ensuring that his future was with the club unless a substantial offer came in that could not be refused.

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That, though, is far from what happens at the club currently. The most notable players with soon-to-be-expiring contracts are Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez. At the end of the season, both have just one more year remaining. However, there are many more established first team members with more than uncertain futures.

Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Kieran Gibbs all have a little over a year remaining on their deals while Santi Cazorla and Per Mertesacker were allowed to enter the final year of their contract last summer – the club did take a year extension on both deals earlier in the season, keeping them in North London for another season at least. But it is not just Arsenal struggling to lock down the long-term futures of their star players. Everton are also in a rather precarious scenario, so much so that it could be the Gunners who take advantage.

Talented attacking midfielder Ross Barkley, much like Sanchez and Ozil, will enter the summer with just a year remaining on his current deal. After a prosperous season in which he has scored four Premier League goals and amassed seven assists, Barkley, at just 22, is considered one of the bright sparks of English football over the coming years.

If Everton are wanting to cash in on the midfielder, then they will be forced to sell him this summer as, in just a year, they will receive little more than insignificant compensation that does not cover the value of an asset such as Barkley. There have been rumours that Arsenal would be interested in a move for Barkley and, given the expected departure of Ozil and Sanchez, adding a powerful attacking midfielder to the squad would not go amiss.

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It is a tad ironic that the club who have continually struggled to manage the contracts of the players could be set to take advantage of exactly that. But Arsenal must do what they must to improve this summer, and Barkley is certainly a more than viable option.