It has come as a massive surprise to Arsenal fans that there are multiple rumours about Granit Xhaka being in talks regarding a move back to the Bundesliga in the summer, although with the continuous rumours regarding Caicedo, Declan Rice and numerous other midfielders coming in, it looks pretty obvious that Arteta will be upgrading his midfield in this upcoming summer window.
Strangely enough, the Arsenal expert Charlie Watts gave a list of the players that could be leaving in his opinion, and so it is worth looking at which other players Watts named alongside Xhaka in his article in Goal, and you can read my opinion on each of them…..
Let’s start with the obvious ones…..
Ainsley Maitland-Niles
On-loan at Southampton now and is out of contract. With the Saints going down, he will be hoping another EPL team give him a chance, but the fact is that he never really was good enough for Arsenal.
Pablo Mari
Was on-loan at Monza, but his move is confirmed as permanent this summer.
Reiss Nelson
Our Academy graduate is now 23 and he has hardly been given any game time at all since coming up to the senior side. He made many statements saying that he had Arsenal DNA and wanted to stay at Arsenal for life, but, for whatever reason, he looks like he has refused Arteta’s offer to stay as a backup, and wants to see if he can actually have a career somewhere else. Personally I am not surprised. I consider him on the same level as Joe Willock and he should have the chance of playing regular football elsewhere.
Nicolas Pepe
Will still have another year on his contract and only scored 6 in 19 games for Lille on loan. Will have trouble getting anyone to match his wages, so we will probably have to pay him off. A VERY expensive error by Arsenal.
Cedric Soares
On-loan at Fulham, but still has one-year on his contract. Another one hard to move on because of wages, but I doubt he will be back. I actually think we could have used him towards the end of this season…
Folarin Balogun
I would love him to be an option next season but it depends on Arteta’s opinion. He obviously thrived on regular football and will not be happy sitting on the bench. I think he will be cashed in this summer, unless the recently-declared USA international could be a huge PR win for the Gunners (and Kroenke) when USA host the World Cup. Unless we are offered silly money I think he will stay, whether he wants to or not…
Sambi Lokonga
We paid Anderlecht £18 million for him and he had a mediocre experience at Crystal Palace. Hopefully we can get our money back, but that is debatable.
Nuno Tavares
Had a very good first half of the season but it doesn’t look like Marseille will be keeping him. We need a left-back, but I think Arteta will take what he can get for him to add to our kitty.
Charlie Patino
I would like Charlie to develop further, but after a great season at Blackpool I think he wants to play, which he certainly won’t do at Arsenal. We MUST include a buy-back clause if sold I think.
Emile Smith Rowe
I can only see him leaving if he is now fed up with waiting for his chances under Arteta. Hope he stays, but could get Arteta a nice payday.
Kieran Tierney
I think most Arsenal fans don’t want to see him go, but that will have to be decided between him and Arteta. Again, he could give us a nice payday, but for me he is still needed next season.
Auston Trusty
Was bought as a favour for Kroenke, I think, but has surprised everyone by being named Player Of The Year at Birmingham. I think we’ll make a nice little profit on moving him on in the summer.
Rob Holding
Recently demoted to 4th choice centre-back and I think his time has come to an end at Arsenal. Cash in for what we can get.
If we could move ALL of these on, it surely would give a big boost to Arteta’s transfer kitty, but could all these really leave this summer?
It could be a VERY busy summer!