Arsenal: 3 ways to avoid repeating last January transfer window

1. Sell, sell, sell!

The only way we accomplish any meaningful transfers is if we offload, and. not just the extra baggage. At least three of our eight centerbacks—specifically a certain error-prone German—will have to go, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan should not set foot on the Emirates turf next season. But in order to get money, we have to sell people who will coup it.

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

Players like Hector Bellerin, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette, Matteo Guendouzi, and Granit Xhaka may be key to the team’s approach, style of play, and future, but they’re also the largest possible sources of profit. Painful as it will be to sell them, at least one, preferably two must go for anything of substance to flow the other way.

Now, I’m not advocating for a wholesale dump. That would be nothing short of ruinous. But swap Auba for Luca Jovic and some cash, sell off Alexandre Lacazette and buy someone like Danny Ings for a third of the price of Laca’s sale, and free up Ozil’s crushing weight on the wage bill and you’ve got yourself a mighty fine rebuild in progress, and still make a profit.

Or get 25-50 million for Hector Bellerin or Ainsley Maitland-Niles, and bring in a quality veteran like Stefan Lainer, with an additional permanent extension of Cedric Soares’ loan. The options truly are endless, if you just know where to look.

Moving sideways is not an option. Moving backwards is not an option. We either shore up our gaps with a loan or free transfer of a veteran player, or we try to make a profit ant build from the ground up. Because if Arsenal doesn’t move forward this summer, we’ll surely start to slide backwards.