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Arsenal: 6 contracts expiring in 2024 to sort out
When domestic football takes a break it often sees focus shift towards matters off the pitch. Namely, transfers. Everyone is rightly excited about what Arsenal will do in the summer.
There are matters closer to home that need seeing to as well, however.
Mikel Arteta is building a squad that the entire fanbase is rallying behind. Bursting full of exciting young talent and propped up by some more senior heads, there is nevertheless still work to do in the coming windows.
On the shopping list is a right-back, midfielder, and striker. Those are three of the most discussed options, although depending on movement and opportunities there could be more on the horizon for the Gunners.
Arsenal: 6 player contracts expiring in 2024 to sort out, including William Saliba and Bukayo Saka
A lot will be dictated by where the side finishes in the Premier League table. The pull of Champions League football could influence potential arrivals as much as it could persuade players already at the club to stay or, if not, secure a move on to pastures new.
In the trimmed down 20-man squad there are six players to be looking in the months building up to the summer window as their deals are currently due to expire in 2024. That elusive point has arrived: renew, or sell?
That number technically sits at eight, but in the cases of Rob Holding and Gabriel Martinelli the club has the option to extend their deals by a further 12 months so they are less pressing concerns.
1. Bukayo Saka
The standout name on the list is Bukayo Saka, who will enter the final two years of his contract at the end of the season.
One of the best players in the team, he is also among the finest in the Premier League. His talent is as unquestionable as his ceiling is invisible, and tying him down to a new long-term contract that is financially befitting of his importance is the pressing matter at the moment aside from matters on the pitch.
Early stage discussions have been held with an offer set to be made in the coming weeks, and while there is talk that he may need convincing of Champions League football, there is a growing expectancy that he will commit his future to his boyhood club.
At just 20 years old there is no rush on his future. He’s Arsenal through and through and even with an agent not known for being the easiest to work with, fans should be quietly confident that he will commit.
Verdict: It needn’t be asked
Continued on next page…