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Arsenal to sell several players before spending this summer
- Manager Mikel Arteta is said to have been asked to offload players to finance spending this summer
- Several key players including Alexandre Lacazette and Hector Bellerin could be sold
- Mental Health and Psychosocial considerations during the COVID-19 pandemic
Arsenal prepared to sell several players to raise funds for summer buying.
The North-London side eased their financial concerns to the tune of £30m with Saturday’s FA Cup win over Chelsea.
The win means that Arsenal will feature in next season’s Europa League competition which will earn the side some needed revenue.
However, reports are that Mikel Arteta has been told that he must sell players to generate the money required to land his first-choice transfer targets.
Arteta wants Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey, and the club have a long-term interest in Chelsea forward Willian, whose contract is set to expire.
Arsenal are interested in Barcelona forward Philippe Coutinho but financing a deal for the former Liverpool star could prove difficult. They also want a central defender and to extend midfielder Dani Ceballos’s loan from Real Madrid.
The club want to sell Mesut Ozil, but their hopes of offloading the former Germany playmaker — and his £350,000-a-week salary — appear slim after his agent insisted Ozil would see out the final season of his contract.
For all these to happen, several players have to be sold.
Sokratis, Matteo Guendouzi, Lucas Torreira, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Sead Kolasinac — as well as Shkodran Mustafi and Rob Holding, who have played key roles for Arteta in recent weeks — could be among the players leaving.
The priority for Arsenal and Arteta is to secure the future of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang before the start of next season on September 12.
The 28-goal forward, whose penalty and expertly taken second-half strike secured Saturday’s 2-1 Wembley win over Chelsea, is stalling over a new deal at the Emirates.
Aubameyang has less than 12 months on his contract and Arsenal run the risk of losing their talismanic captain for nothing next summer.
The Gabon international earns around £180,000-a-week but wants upwards of £250,000-a-week before he will consider extending his stay.
