Arsenal: A summer of change or stagnation

Arsenal are in a state of transition. They are selling players, signing replacements, and making key hirings behind the scenes. Does this hint at a summer of change, then, or will there be further stagnation?

Arsenal are a changing. For a club that has been managed by an authoritarian for the same 21 years, that is quite a statement. This is not an always-adapting, ever-evolving organisation. This is a continued, consistent, almost stale, club. Change is a bitter, twisted, evil word in these parts.

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And yet, that is exactly what is happening. The first sign of it came in the summer in the form of key player sales. Kieran Gibbs, Wojciech Szczesny, Gabriel Paulista. The ‘dead-wood’ was being cleared.

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That continued in January. Francis Coquelin, Theo Walcott, Mathieu Debuchy and Olivier Giroud all departed, although the latter was as a component of a far more complicated deal. And Arsenal did not make sweeping recruitment to replace them. In fact, as Arsene Wenger had indicated with his comments that the squad was ‘heavy’, these sales or releases were as a part of the pruning process, not necessarily a buying, selling, and improving.

That pruning process will continue this summer. Per Mertesacker is set to retire. Santi Cazorla’s contract expires, as does Jack Wilshere’s, although an extension is expected. Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal, Petr Cech. They are all a year older, with the latter’s contract expiring just 12 months later, and their recent performances, bar Monreal, perhaps suggest that their best days are now well and truly behind them. This squad is in a state of change. Wenger must now embrace it.

That truth is only compounded by the increasing activity of the board. Legal expert Huss Fahmy was hired to handle the contracts of players, something that has crippled the progress of this squad for many years. Raul Sanllehi was brought in as Head of Football Relations — he is essentially the Director of Football, but because Wenger does not like that idea, the name is different. Sven Mislintat is the new Head of Recruitment and clearly played a major part in the January additions.

The stagnation that was threatening to set in has subsided, at least temporarily. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, as well as the exit of the increasingly disruptive Alexis Sanchez, has breathed a refreshing air into the club. But the process of change is not a quick fix. Goalkeeper, centre-half, central midfield, right-back, winger. These are all positions that require investment.

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Arsenal have made strides in their embracing of change. The transition has begun. But there is still a long way to go, and this summer will, inevitably, play a major part in the shaping, or preserving, of the club’s landscape.