The expendables or Players who don’t deserve to be part of Arsenal anymore

Mikel Arteta carried out a major squad purge at Arsenal during January, with six players leaving north London. However, the Spanish strategist is still unable to polish his squad into a diamond that could play regularly in the Champions League and become a hot contender to win the league title. Which players are surplus to requirements in the Gunners’ squad?

January departures

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Sead Kolašinac, Calum Chambers, Pablo Mari, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Folarin Balogun left the Emirates Stadium in the January transfer deadline. True, some of them only on loan.

But Arsenal’s squad turnover certainly doesn’t end there. Until recently, they were among the indispensable players of the starting line-up, others played only because they were the only option. For others, the question arises: Why are they still in north London?

The end of African stars

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nicolas Pepe together cost an astronomical £120m. While we can talk about money well invested with the Gabonese speedster, this is not the case with the Ivorian winger.

It’s just that players this expensive, even if they haven’t performed adequately this season, simply have to play. In Pepe’s case, we are talking about poor performances throughout virtually his entire Arsenal engagement.

Arteta, however, has run out of patience – he has put Aubameyang off the roster after another disciplinary infraction and then let him leave for Barcelona. Pepe only played in twelve games.

Will the Ivory Coast winger take advantage of the narrow squad and can he build a stronger place in the line-up? If he fails to do so, it’s time to say goodbye to the 26-year-old in June.

What failed in January will come out in the summer

The Spanish coach has tried to narrow down the squad with more names. The departures that failed to materialise on January 31 will be something Arsenal will look to bring to a successful conclusion in the summer transfer window. Which players are we talking about?

Cedric Soares. A mystery arrival at the Emirates Stadium. The Portuguese full-back arrived from Southampton initially on loan, after his contract at Saints expired he agreed a permanent move to Arsenal.

It’s just that the right-back has never put in performances that would fit him as a stable member of the starting line-up, even during his loan spell. If Arsenal find another ‘Tomiyasa’, I see no reason why the club should keep the 30-year-old Portuguese.

Only three stoppers have been retained by Arteta for the rest of the season. One of the central defenders is Rob Holding, who Newcastle were interested in. Arsenal will be strengthening the defence in the summer, so the English stopper could lose his place. And in the event of a fat offer, the North London outfit will not resist selling.

Due to expiring contracts, the pair of Mohamed Elneny and Eddie Nketiah will leave Arsenal. Neither of the footballers have shown the quality to sign a new contract. For the ambitions and future of the club, the only right way to go. This will free up up to £100k a week from the Gunners wage bill for further signings.

Source: Transfermarkt