Arsenal: Matteo Guendouzi makes keeping Aubameyang easier

Arsenal may not have a cash infusion coming, but thanks to Matteo Guendouzi, they have plenty of chips to play the transfer game with.

Depending on which report you read, Arsenal is going to get somewhere in the £30-50m range for spending this summer. You don’t have to be a genius to realize that that isn’t a lot of money, and definitely not enough money to turn a club around.

However, it’s also kind of justified. You have to account for the £15m we’re spending every year to pay off Nicolas Pepe, as well as the £27m that goes to secure William Saliba.

But that’s okay, because while that isn’t a ton of money, there is still a lot in this club’s favor for raising some money. Lucas Torreira for instance, perhaps Alexandre Lacazette. Or if we can free up the wages of Mesut Ozil. But mostly—Matteo Guendouzi.

Guendouzi has likely played his last for Arsenal, as he and Mikel Arteta seem to have hit an impasse, leaving the two at insurmountable odds.

Guendouzi had several falling-outs with Arteta, but his latest, when he choked Neal Maupay after Maupay injured Bernd Leno for the season with a poor tackle, appears to have been the final straw that will see Guendouzi to the premature exit we never saw coming.

In the name of raising money though, having Guendouzi as a bargaining chip really helps with the logic of keeping Aubameyang.

Ideally, my line of thought with selling Aubameyang was that we could raise £50-60m to be reinvested in the long-term of this club. That would cover the Thomas Partey transfer fee with some change to spend on, oh I don’t know, Axel Disasi.

He was our big sell, our major fundraiser. But if we really want to keep him, which I think it’s safe to say we do, then we need to figure out another big-time fundraiser, and that is Guendouzi. After just six months at the club last year, Guendouzi was ready to fetch a £60m fee from PSG. Another year of experience, combined with the unrest, and I have to believe we can get that same amount for the youngster, hopefully turning that around and reinvesting it in the midfield.

It’s not a bad tradeoff. Obviously we want to see Guendouzi stay because he’s immensely talented, but if it means we can keep Aubameyang, that is some kind of silver lining. As long as the money is spent right.