Arsenal: 4 Players Who Could Leave Gunners in January

Sokratis Papastathopoulos

A well-liked figure within the club, Sokratis Papastathopoulos’ omission from the Premier League and Europa League squads has been claimed to have caused tension within the dressing room.

Players are not overly keen with the treatment of the Greek defender, although on ability alone, it’s a decision that was somewhat inevitable. At 32 years old, Sokratis has gradually drifted away from the first team with a series of below-par outings, and despite being a model professional (he hasn’t spoken out once) the decision was the right call.

However, it was a call that shouldn’t have been made in the first place.

Clearly not in the manager’s thoughts for the current campaign, why no deal was found over the summer was another failure on the recruitment side. Sitting on £92k-per-week wages, his near £5m-per-year salary would have been a substantial one to get off the wage bill, instead Arsenal dug their heels in and demanded a hefty fee for someone with just one year left on his deal.

Not playing any minutes other than for the Under-23’s, his value will drop with every matchday squad exemption, not to mention come January he’ll have just six months left to run on his deal.

Selling Mesut Ozil will be high on the club’s list of priorities, although realistically Sokratis’ departure is one they’ll pursue more vigorously in January – Juventus were remarkably linked. Good luck with that one.