Arsenal: Abort the mission, you’re selling the wrong three guys

Arsenal were supposed to sell three main players this summer and they are rumored to be selling exactly that many… but they’re all the wrong guys.

It’s pretty clear, the situation that Arsenal currently find themselves in. Every other team in the world knows that we need money, so they are throwing in lowball bids for out top tier players knowing that they might be able to coax us to sell if we need it enough.

It’s annoying, and it’s probably going to continue on all summer. But the most annoying thing is that, despite being linked to selling at least three players, which is the magic number we talked about all year, the three guys we are now being linked to dismissing are the exact wrong three guys.

We all know the three guys I’m talking about on the first count – the three guys that we really wanted to ship off: Mesut Ozil, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Shkodran Mustafi. Three guys that have magnificently underwhelmed, yet who carry enough reputation and/or potential to find success elsewhere.

They could fetch decent prices, perhaps amassing £50-60m combined, which would more than double our supposed budget. It all seems like such a great idea.

And it matches up nicely with the fact that we are linked to selling three players. Only the three players that we are most linked with selling are… Granit Xhaka, Lucas Torreira and Hector Bellerin.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

Notice anything wrong here?

Xhaka and Torreira combined to form one of the bright spots of the season, that midfield partnership, occasionally a trio. Sell either one and you’re in a fit of trouble, sell both and you’re pushing the reset on the whole damn thing.

And Hector Bellerin was such a huge piece of the attack and defense, particularly in a back four set, that to sell him would mean we’d need another Kieran Tierney, only one that plays on the other side. And I don’t know if you noticed, but we haven’t even gotten the first Kieran Tierney yet.

I understand that we have to sell players to move forward, but you don’t want to sell to the point that you then have to make up considerable ground just to get back to where you were. Yes, there is a problem with the mindset at the club, but damn, we’re getting pretty dicey here.

Sell the expendables first. That seems like the most sensible thing to do.