3 senior players that should leave after Alexandre Lacazette’s departure

The wide-ranging power once held by senior players in the dressing room at Arsenal has slowly begun to evaporate. Mikel Arteta came into the club and one of his first talking points was his goal of changing the culture at the club. Years later, we have seen that come to fruition.

Toxic personalities have been sold or sent out on loan while others have not been rewarded with a new contract after sub-par performances. Alexandre Lacazette falls into the latter category. After five years with Arsenal, the French striker will leave London.

While Lacazette has certainly not been a distracting and disruptive person in the dressing room, his departure comes at the right time. Arteta understands that his showings this season haven’t been good enough and despite his positive influence on the youngsters, his downsides have far outweighed his positives.

3 senior players that should leave along with Alexandre Lacazette this summer

It is this ruthlessness shown by Arteta that will prove useful as he continues the Arsenal rebuild. To that effect, here are three senior players that should be sold in the upcoming window.

3. Bernd Leno

There is no doubt that Bernd Leno has been excellent for Arsenal. Since his move from Germany, he provided characteristics that the Arsenal team sorely needed. He was comfortable on the ball and possessed a world-class shot-stopping ability (his double save against Tottenham is still vivid in the memory of most fans).

He was, however, largely underrated, even by Arsenal supporters. Aaron Ramsdale’s move to the club and talent in passing caught the eye. Add to that the significant number of clean sheets in the early half of the season and praise for Ramsdale only increased.

Yet the defence in front of each keeper stands in stark contrast to each other. Whereas Ramsdale had Kieran Tierney, Gabriel, Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu, Leno was stuck behind the likes of Sokratis and Shkodran Mustafi during his north London pomp. The German keeper would certainly be rated more highly if the back line in front of him was as formidable as the one that was protecting Ramsdale for much of last season.

While Leno’s level is high, it is quite simply not high enough. Ramsdale’s ceiling is much higher and Leno should be on his way out in the next few weeks with his contract running down.

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