Kevin Campbell says the reason Arsenal is giving a new contract to Granit Xhaka this summer is to protect his value.
The Switzerland captain is one of the key players at the club and Mikel Arteta wants to keep working with him.
The Gunners are currently rebuilding their squad and it involves selling some players as they also buy new ones.
AS Roma had been looking to take advantage of that to sign Xhaka, with Jose Mourinho reportedly a fan of the Swiss midfielder.
However, both clubs couldn’t reach an agreement over his sale and he looks set to continue at Arsenal.
Football London revealed earlier in the month that Arteta is confident of keeping the Swiss midfielder on a new contract.
Campbell was speaking about the former Arsenal captain’s future recently and the ex-Gunners striker says he might still leave the Emirates.
However, Arsenal is giving him a new contract so that they would protect themselves from him entering the last year of his current deal and running it down.
“Here’s the thing, obviously he was looking to leave,” Campbell told Football Insider.
“The love-in with Roma and Mourinho was there but they tried to stiff Arsenal on the deal.
“They moved the goalposts after agreeing to sell him. So if you’re Arsenal you turn round and say no.
“Xhaka only has two years left and you don’t want to get into the scenario when he runs his contract down.
“You have to protect your asset, that’s what Arsenal are doing. He still might end up leaving.
“Nothing is set in stone but if you’re Arsenal and you look at bodies, they aren’t bringing in enough.
“They might need to rely on Xkaka.”