Arsenal has been slammed for not selling Eddie Nketiah for less than their asking price as he looks set to walk away from the club as a free agent.
Nketiah has entered the last year of his current Arsenal deal and he had interest from the likes of Brighton and Crystal Palace in the last transfer window.
Football Insider said Arsenal was demanding £20million for a striker that is down the pecking order at the Emirates.
Palace refused to pay that fee and have signed Odsonne Edouard from Celtic instead.
Nketiah is yet to play for the Gunners this season as he is nursing an injury, but when he returns he would still struggle to play as he now has Folarin Balogun to compete with for a spot in an attack that already has the likes of Gabriel Martinelli and Alexandre Lacazette.
Arsenal is now facing the prospect of losing him for nothing at the end of this season, even though he has been offered a new deal.
At 22, he can rebuild his career at another club and Noel Whelan thinks it makes little sense that Arsenal will lose him when they could have sold him cheaply.
“It’s a bit of a silly decision,” Whelan told Football Insider.
“It’s like the Edouard situation at Celtic, when a player’s contract gets down to that length of time you know whether they are prepared to sit it out.
“£10million is better than nothing so it seems like a really bad decision by Arsenal considering the money they have gone out and spent.
“£10million back into the budget would have been better than nothing, which is what they have ended up with.
“They also have a very young player leaving on a free. It’s a really bad business decision. I’m not sure what they were thinking.
“Nketiah will be more than happy to sit it out, which is what will happen now. They should have taken the money.
“It might not be where they value him but they should have snapped their hands off.”