Arsenal: 10-step summer plan to solve team

Sell Lacazette and Aubameyang

Perhaps the most difficult decision that Arsenal will have to make this summer is the future of their star strike partnership, Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. They have routinely rescued the team throughout their times at the club but they will be 29 and 31 respectively this summer with new contracts needed to keep them at the club. A decision must be made.

As was warned from the moment he arrived in north London, Arsenal’s investment in Aubameyang unbalanced the squad. Their two club-record signings in the space of six months play the same position. This is the last summer that they can reclaim at least some of the money they invested in the pair initially. It is time to offload both and remunerate other positions in the squad that have depreciated as a result of the money ploughed into the centre-forward position.

Aubameyang and Lacazette could raise as much as £100 million in transfer fees. They would also alleviate almost £400,000 per week off the wage bill. Given that they will require bumper new deals that will blow Arsenal’s wage budget even further out of their depth and will not be a part of the long-term plan at the club, the money their sales will raise is invaluable. Selling, then, is a necessary evil.