4 Arsenal Players Set for Axe to Fund £90m Transfer Raid

Arsenal are set to continue their squad overhaul.

Spending £77.4m over the summer to recruit six new players, the biggest deal saw Thomas Partey join Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for £45m, with Gabriel Magalhaes before him for roughly £23m.

Two key signings who have already made a sterling impression in north London, the wider acceptance remains that Arsenal still have plenty to do in order to reshape the squad.

Not just in terms of filling gaps, there are a number of fringe stars – as well as plain outcasts – that the club need shipped in order for Mikel Arteta to continue his restructuring.

As per the Daily Mirror, interest in Houssem Aouar remains firmly in place, someone Arteta pushed hard to sign in the summer. Their cash reserves instead went on Partey, who it was deemed as the more sensible option at the time, one who would make a more immediate impact. With that deal costing in the region of £50m, the remaining outlay would go on Odsonne Edouard.

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

Arteta is said to be a keen admirer of the French striker – who isn’t? – who has not hidden his ambition of moving on from Celtic. Putting two and two together, that means there is likely to be an outgoing in that department, so no prizes for guessing that Alexandre Lacazette is said to be up for the chop.

With less than two years left on his current deal, Arsenal can still accrue a decent fee for the 29-year-old, seemingly only just coming to the realisation that he’s not good enough having turned down a big offer from Roma in the summer. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Of course, more players need to be shipped out to fund such a spree, with Mesut Ozil, Sokratis and Sead Kolasinac also up for sale.

What fee can be made from Ozil and Sokratis won’t count for much, but rather having their wages off the bill will suffice. Moving them on is another matter, as we know full well how insistent Ozil is on staying regardless of being unlikely to kick a ball for the club again. Elsewhere, Arsenal are said to want £5.5m for the Greek defender, a number that feels… a tad ambitious considering he’s in the final year of his deal and 32 years old.

Matteo Guendouzi isn’t mentioned but having impressed so far at Hertha Berlin, exactly what Arsenal would have been hoping for to generate a bigger fee.

https://twitter.com/90min_Football/status/1327274270389579778

In regards to Kolasinac, Bayer Leverkusen failed to sign him in the summer but haven’t dropped their interest. January could provide a route out for the Bosnian, with a £9m deal said to be in the offing.

As poor as he’s been, we need cover for Kieran Tierney in that slot. The Scotsman can’t play every week and Bukayo Saka mustn’t be held back in his development by being reinstated in that role. The only other option is Ainsley Maitland-Niles, who when opting to remain at the club during the summer wouldn’t have envisaged hed’ be playing left-back.

A new striker and a creative midfielder are high up on the transfer list, yet so too are another midfielder of the No. 8/10 mould, left-back cover and a right-sided centre-half. Other areas need tending to as well, but they stand out as primary.

It all comes down to player sales, freeing up space on the wage bill and being shrewd in the market. The job on hands of the recruitment department is an unenviable one.