Arsenal: 4 crucial non-Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang contract decisions

2. Matteo Guendouzi

Another player with two years remaining on his contract, Matteo Guendouzi’s situation is almost a blend of the Lacazette and Nketiah decisions: he is a young and improving player like Nketiah which means that Arsenal will definitely want to keep him, unlike Lacazette, but he would command a sizable fee in the transfer market and will be more inclined to force an exit if he felt his development was not being served well.

It is this last possibility that is most concerning. Should Arsenal complacently believe that Guendouzi will just sign a contract because it is what everyone expects him to do, almost out of some non-existent loyalty, they could get themselves in a spot of bother.

They found this with Reiss Nelson and managed to get out of it. They are in it with the next player on this list. They fell foul of their own arrogance when they were forced to sell Serge Gnabry. Guendouzi could take the same path over the next year, running his contract down as he considers his options, before then forcing the club’s hand. This summer, Arteta and co. need to determine just what they think of Guendouzi and make a decision as a result of that assessment.