There have been more than the usual amount of Arsenal transfer rumours flying around this season, as the Gunners have Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all entering the final year of their contracts this summer. There have also been signs that David Ospina, Matthieu Debuchy, Hector Bellerin, Carl Jenkinson, Kieran Gibbs, Jack Wilshere, Wojciech Szczesny and Yaya Sanogo will also be sold or allowed to leave as well.
Of course there is also the small matter of Arsene Wenger’s contract to be resolved, but if Le Prof does re-sign for another two years he will have to make massive changes to the squad one way or the other, and this would seem to go against his usual philosophy of continuity, stability and cohesion, which has seen him keeping his team together and extending contracts of players that have come through the Arsenal youth system. This was most notable during the infamous transfer window when Petr Cech was our only purchase, and not one new senior outfield player was brought in.
Wenger demonstrated this again this season, by giving contract extensions to both Per Mertesacker and Santi Cazorla, despite neither player being given time on the pitch due to ongoing injury problems. This has also been shown in the past with new contracts for the likes of Mikel Arteta, Tomas Rosicky and (dare I say it) Abou Diaby amongst many others.
So if Wenger really does intend to stay and overhaul the squad, how is he going to justify a wholesale change of playing staff?
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