Arsenal triple transfer to save whopping £20m annually

It has taken until the last week of the summer transfer window, but it appears that Arsenal is getting closer to moving fringe players out of the club. As is always the case, the late flurry is inevitable.

With no European football this season, the Gunners are only in action domestically with the Premier League, EFL Cup, and the FA Cup the only competitions the north London side is competing in. Given that the club still has a grossly bloated squad, some traction in the departure lounge is essential.

Considering the wealth of players absent from the 2-0 defeat to Chelsea it’s notable just how sizeable the squad is that Arteta didn’t need to tap into the academy to fill his bench; ‘surplus to requirements’ springs to mind.

Fans have been critical of the club’s transfer business, this despite the arrivals of Ben White, Nuno Tavares, Albert Lokonga, Aaron Ramsdale and Martin Odegaard coming through the Emirates door to the tune of around £130m. However, most of the frustration has been directed at the club’s inability to move players on, with few willing, or able, to make the investments needed in a COVID-hit market to lure mediocre players unable to earn minutes at a club heading for mid-table. Shock.

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

Arsenal trio of departures to save whopping £20m annually as Willian, Kolasinac and Torreira close in on summer departures from Mikel Arteta’s side

At the time of writing, the only players to leave the club are Joe Willock (permanently to Newcastle), Konstantinos Mavropanos (loan with obligation), Mattéo Guendouzi (loan with obligation) and William Saliba (simple loan). The latter two both moving to Marseille.

Willock was sold to Newcastle for a fee of around £25m, signing a six-year deal, in what has to go down as a triumph of this window for Arsenal. Having been seriously impressive in his short stay on Tyneside, the Willock sale suited all parties. Newcastle needed another central midfielder with a goalscoring threat and Arsenal needed funds to complete the Odegaard signing.

Five new players have been signed by Mikel Arteta and attention now turns to clear out the deadwood – with an eye on funding a move for a right-back.

With the clock ticking, significant movement is taking place as three players close in on securing moves away from the Emirates. Uruguayan midfielder Lucas Torreira is edging ever closer to joining Fiorentina. At long last.

In Torreira’s case, his Arsenal move has never really got going. Since joining Arsenal in 2018, he’s only only played 89 times for the Gunners, scoring four times, and assisting six times. The 25-year-old’s deal with the Italian side is said to be a loan deal with an option to buy with the permanent fee said to be around £12.8m.

The Italian side will pay a £1m loan fee and cover his £75k-per-week wages.

This is just the beginning. More will follow suit and the wages bill will ease up. Who else is leaving and what will Arsenal save?

Continued…