Arsenal: 6 defensive players in line for summer departures

Arsenal have closed their transfer business for another season with a dramatic yet underwhelming January window passing them by.

The rest of the season will be contested by a streamlined squad that maintains the sole goal of returning to the Premier League top four. A rebuild in the works since the moment that Mikel Arteta walked through the doors rumbles on.

Letting go six members of the first team was a welcome move.

These were a combination of players whose impact on the season so far was minimal at best. In the case of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang he still accrued a fair amount of minutes, but it was clear his time was up from the beginning of December onwards.

Arsenal: 6 defenders and goalkeepers who look set to leave Mikel Arteta’s side in the summer transfer window

Joining him were Calum Chambers, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Pablo Mari, Sead Kolasinac and Folarin Balogun, all leaving on a variety of deals from permanent, to contract terminations, to loans. More are expected.

If it was felt that the previous summer was hectic, the upcoming one is in line to be even more so. Within this squad there are still a great number of players whose futures appear to away from north London, many who may already have played their final matches for the club.

Looking across the group, from a goalkeeping and defensive standpoint there are six names who may be preparing for their final few months as Arsenal players.

1. Bernd Leno

One of the more inevitable departures is Bernd Leno, who has endured his most frustrating season in north London to date.

When he first arrived he had to bide his time behind Petr Cech, and upon Aaron Ramsdale’s signing it was felt that a similar situation may play out again. Instead, it took only three Premier League matches for him to lose his place in goal.

Hotly tipped for a move away in January following the news of interest in Matt Turner and subsequent interest in Leno from Newcastle, when it was revealed that the American wouldn’t arrive until the summer the move was shelved until a later date.

Nonetheless, Leno is destined for pastures new at the end of the season when he has one final year left on his contract, by which point a return to the Bundesliga looks like his most likely destination.

Estimated fee: £6m

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2. Runar Alex Runarsson

Remember him? Probably not, unless you’re one to keep up to date with the activities of Belgian sides battling relegation this season.

Securing a season-long loan move to OH Leuven back in the summer, Alex Runarsson has had to bide his time for involvement with the Belgian basement dwellers having not featured in any of the first eight league matches after his arrival.

While he won’t go down as one of the Gunners’ worst ever signings due to him costing so little, in terms of quality he’s among the worst to wear red and white. It’s nothing against him, only that sometimes it is clear as day that someone is just nowhere near the required standard.

Arsenal will be hoping that OH Leuven, or someone else, can take him on permanently as there is a greater chance of Ramsdale retiring than the Icelandic stopper making it into the Gunners’ first team reckoning.

Spending £1.3m for him, they’ll be lucky to get a third of that.

Estimated fee: £300k

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3. Hector Bellerin

It was time for Hector Bellerin to leave Arsenal. A magnificent servant to the club and a representative of the club to feel proud of, for his sake he needed a change of scenery.

Heeding Arteta’s call to stick around for another season despite wanting to depart two years ago, he finally sealed a loan move to the club he supported as a boy last summer, being a regular feature for Real Betis under Manuel Pellegrini since.

Only there on loan until the end of the season when he will return to north London, Bellerin has gone as far to say that his time at Arsenal is up and he will move on to pastures new.

For his sake that can hopefully be Betis, depending on what it is that they are willing to offer for his services by then.

Playing regularly will help his potential transfer fee rise up, and even if his Gunners deal expires in 2023 he will only be 27 years old come the summer and should garner a decent amount.

Estimated fee: £6m

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4. Konstantinos Mavropanos

The Greek defender has been a revelation for Stuttgart this season, regularly finding himself in the Bundesliga team of the week and garnering rave reviews from across Europe. Big hitters like West Ham have been monitoring his progress and fees as high as £25m were even being mentioned.

Penning a season-long loan deal with Stuttgart that included an obligation to buy at the end of the campaign, the terms of that were dependent on the German side avoiding relegation.

At the time of writing they sit three points adrift of safety.

Paying a £500k loan fee, the obligation to buy, including bonuses, will amount to around £5m. However, if the side don’t avoid the drop then that purchase clause only becomes optional and Stuttgart have financial issues that with relegation will make them unlikely to sign him permanently.

That plays into Arsenal’s favour hugely, with Mavropanos under contract until 2023.

Estimated fee: £5m (Stuttgart), £10m (elsewhere)

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5. Pablo Mari

It would appear for all the world as if Pablo Mari’s time is fully up at Arsenal. While he may only be on loan at Udinese and still under contract in north London until 2024, it’s surely curtains.

When you can’t get into the team with three competitions ongoing then it’s fair to say you don’t rank highly in the manager’s thinking.

William Saliba will be returning to Arsenal in the summer and Arteta is likely to want to source another left-sided central defender for balance, limiting whatever faint hopes Mari might have had of playing for the club again even further.

With two years left when he returns the hope will be that enough minutes at a high level like Serie A will help create a market for him across Europe. Mind you, if he plays at all like he has for Arsenal this season then perhaps not.

Mid-table Serie A or La Liga sounds roughly the level he can aspire for if he picks up some form.

Estimated fee: £3m

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6. Cedric Soares

Arguably more hopeful than anything else, Cedric Soares just does not fit into the team that Arteta is building. On the one hand it makes sense to have a different profile of right-back to the first choice to allow you to be flexible tactically, but the bottom line is that Cedric is dreadful. There is no escaping that.

He can’t defend, is never stood in the right place and can’t pass the ball inside. They’re quite fundamental flaws.

Unfortunately for Arsenal, he’s also under contract until 2024. Another recruitment masterclass from this club.

Turkey has shown interest in the 30-year-old in recent windows and if there is anyone to lure him away it could be them, although the interest from Atletico Madrid that wasn’t taken was one of the more baffling decisions in recent times. One of an endless pit of baffling decisions.

Is this heading towards another contract being wound down or a termination? It might end up being so.

Estimated fee: £2m(?)