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Arsenal have closed their transfer business for another season with a dramatic yet underwhelming January window passing them by.
Mikel Arteta and co have deemed it doable for a squad of only 21 senior players, including three goalkeepers, to navigate their way through the remaining 17 matches of the Premier League season and achieve the remaining challenge of the season of clinching a top four spot.
Fans have been yearning for this rebuild to take place, and as violent and ugly as it may seem, it’s underway – and we’re all for it.
Letting go six members of the first team was a welcome, if not risky, move.
Arsenal: 5 midfielders in line for summer departures as Mikel Arteta and Edu prepare for another transfer window of multiple sales and signings
Those allowed to leave – barring Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – had barely contributed this season. The former captain accrued a decent share of minutes, but none since December 6 and therefore even his departure won’t be as keenly felt.
What will be felt is the lack of arrivals. But that ship has sailed. This is the squad now and there will be no further changes until the summer.
Joining the 32-year-old in departing in January were Calum Chambers, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Pablo Mari, Sead Kolasinac and Folarin Balogun, all of whom left on a combination of deals ranging from permanent, to contract terminations, to loans. More are expected.
Despite the previous summer being one of monumental upheaval, the work is far from over. Looking across the squad there are six midfielders who are either due to leave, or could have moves away on the cards.
1. Mohamed Elneny
Nobody dislikes Mohamed Elneny. He’s a great character, a hard worker and has never grumbled about his position in the team.
But everyone is excited about his departure: less due to wanting him gone, and more down to knowing that the club can do much, much better in the position.
One of only four senior midfielders at the club for the remainder of the campaign, it’s likely that the vast majority of Elneny’s minutes will come as a late substitute to try and see games out. That’s the hope anyway, as unwelcome injuries or other absences could shoot him up the pecking order.
When he does leave he will do so with everyone’s best wishes. If he can play his part in helping Arsenal secure a top four spot then we’ll remember him even more fondly.
Estimated fee: £0
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2. Matteo Guendouzi
Still officially an Arsenal player, even when Matteo Guendouzi does inevitably leave there will be endless streams of people mentioning his name in the same breath as the club.
He hasn’t kicked a ball in red and white colours in nearly 20 months, during which time he’s had a decent enough spell with Hertha Berlin followed by a far more impressive stint at Marseille.
It’s the latter of those which will be his new permanent resident, with the terms of his loan with an option to buy deal at the club all-but certain to see him move there. While it was classed as an ‘option’, it is effectively an obligation.
A superb individual season on the south coast puts him in a fine position to have a successful career. He’s an ever present under Jorge Sampoali, a regular in the France squad (he captains the Under-21s) and has his best years ahead of him.
Certain fee: £8m
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3. Ainsley Maitland-Niles
How different might have January looked for Arsenal had they only allowed Ainsley Maitland-Niles to leave two or three weeks later?
Suspensions, injuries and other absences heavily depleted Arteta’s squad to the point where he had only one central midfielder available, and keeping Maitland-Niles for just that little while longer could have been the difference between staying in the FA Cup and perhaps being in a cup final.
The midfielder wouldn’t have turned Arsenal’s fortunes around in the middle of the pitch, but it would have prevented the squad from being stretched. Having Thomas Partey against Burnley, for example, could have been the difference between one or three Premier League points.
His loan to Roma is only a simple one, with the idea being that a market will open for him in the summer other than just Jose Mourinho’s side. With more minutes his value will increase and hopefully, by then, he might be worth a few more quid.
One thing is fairly certain: his time at Arsenal is up.
Estimated fee: £10m
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4. Lucas Torreira
He just never settled in England.
After a strong start to his Arsenal career a combination of injuries, baffling positional use and the struggle to adapt to the culture (and weather) saw Lucas Torreira’s performances dip.
Still entirely serviceable as a defensive midfielder, his wasted loan to Atletico Madrid took a dent out of any transfer fee Arsenal had hoped to secure for him. At long last, after being linked to every football club in Europe, he sealed a move to Fiorentina last summer.
It’s been a revelation in comparison to his one in Spain.
The 25-year-old has been an ever present throughout his season-long loan and all the talk coming out of Italy is that I Viola have no doubt in their minds that they will activate the option to buy in his contract at the end of the season.
For his sake alone it’s been a terrific move. You do feel happy for him, as you do for Arsenal who will finally get some money in the bank for someone who was clearly not part of the long-term plans.
Certain fee: £13m
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5. Granit Xhaka
One can dream, right?
Setting the record straight, between now and the end of the season Granit Xhaka will be invaluable to Arsenal. Keeping his partnership with Thomas Partey in tact across the remaining 17 matches can be the deciding factor in whether or not top four is secured.
The win ratio when those two play together (71%) is far greater than when they’re not side-by-side (43%). But one can be prepared for the future without Xhaka – longing for it, in fact – and still understand his importance for the current group. He’s someone who has continued to dabble with the idea of departing before his contract expires, with clubs in Germany as well as Roma all said to be monitoring his progress.
The more likely outcome is that he does stay, even if that was said prior to the summer, due to the sheer volume of work needing to happen over the summer, but never say never.
If Arsenal were to make it into the Champions League then the £13m offer they received previously becomes a far more acceptable fee. Of course they’d like more, but he will be one year older by then and money will be in the bank along with the wage bill being drastically reduced.
Will go he? Perhaps he might.
Estimated fee: £12m