Arsenal: 4 players who could be traded this summer

3. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

It is highly plausible that Arsenal will be forced to sell Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang this summer. They might not like it, but the striker has one year remaining on his contract. If he refuses to sign an extension, the club may have to sell.

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However, Arsenal are not the only team who are dealing with limited transfer budgets. In fact, every team has far less money to spend this summer than they have done in recent years. That will drive Aubameyang’s price down. It is difficult to see how he will command anything close to £50 million in the current market.

If Arsenal are forced to offload Aubameyang, they might get better value in trying to find a swap deal, rather than just selling him in a more traditional manner. Aubameyang is one of the premier goalscorers in Europe. Arsenal would be able to sign a high-level player from a team who are just missing a goalscorer and are looking to win now.

This, of course, is what the club did with one of their last stars to run down his contract. After failing to sell Alexis Sanchez for £60 million in 2017, Arsenal allowed him to play into the final year of his contract. In January, with six months remaining, they did not get a financial offer they felt was viable. And so, they swapped him for Henrikh Mkhitaryan. That deal did not work out for either team, but it shows that players can have value in different ways from the price they cost.