Emirates Stadium side set for a very busy summer.
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Arsene Wenger is planning a major Gunners squad shake-up this summer and has been told that funds accrued from player sales and wages saved from their departures will be ploughed straight back into a hefty transfer warchest.
The Arsenal boss is ready to offload ten of his first team squad ahead of moves to bring in new talents that will give his Emirates Stadium an improved streamlined feel that will have more of an emphasis on quality than quantity.
Injury prone midfielder Abou Diaby is perhaps the player most likely of Arsene Wenger’s ten man exit bound cull to garner a decent fee if an interested buyer can be convinced to make an offer for the French international.
The 26 year old had a fairly decent start to the campaign before he was once again sidelined with an injury and Wenger is said to have reached the end of his patience with a player who after eight seasons at the North London club is still to deliver on the potential he displayed as a youngster.
Arsene Wenger will look to sell Andrei Arshavin in January and will hope that interest from the winger’s native Russia results in a concrete offer and even a nominal fee will be accepted as the Arsenal boss looks to remove the 31 year old’s wages from the balance sheet. Failing a deal to move the 31 year old this month the winger will leave the club when his current contract comes to an end this summer.
Sebastien Squillaci has been an unmitigated disaster since his move to Arsenal. The experienced centre-back was brought in to steady the ship at the back, an alternative option that Wenger hoped to turn to as he looked to challenge for honours on a number of fronts.
However the former Sevilla man has not adapted to life in the English top tier, looking woefully off the pace and out of his depth.
Andre Santos’s inability to secure a regular spot in the Arsenal side was exacerbated by the incident at Old Trafford earlier this season when he requested former team-mate Robin Van Persie’s Man United shirt at half-time, a decision that angered many Gunners supporters.
Marouane Chamakh’s missed penalty against Bradford City may well turn out to be the last action the Moroccan international sees in Arsenal colours. Currently on loan at West Ham, Arsene Wenger is ready to release the 28 year old on a free transfer if he can’t find a willing buyer this summer.
Johan Djourou hasn’t played a single minute of Premier League football this season and may well feel that a move away from the club could help re-ignite a career that is certainly stagnating at the Emirates Stadium. The Swiss international has been sent to Bundesliga side Hannover on loan and much like Chamakh will be made available for a permanent exit in the summer.
Nicklas Bendtner is in the middle a season long loan spell at Juventus and Arsene Wenger will sell the Danish international on a permanent basis this summer. He would have hoped that first team action at the Turin side would help act as a good method to display the player’s ability to any interested parties but as yet the giant forward has struggled to get a look-in at the Serie A title holders.
Park Chu-Young proved something of a failure in his first season at Arsenal last term and was farmed out to Celta Vigo in the summer and the South Korean international has had a fair crack of the whip at the La Liga side, scoring twice in 11 matches. Wenger will offer the 27 year old for a fairly low price to help secure a quick sale at the end of the season.
Emmanuel Frimpong failed to impress Arsene Wenger in the first team outings he has been handed and following an injury curtailed loan spell at Wolves last term the defensive midfielder has been sent to Charlton Athletic until January. The 20 year old will be available on a permanent sale but if no club comes forward the tough tackler will be sent out on a temporary deal for the remainder of the current campaign.
Denilson’s last senior Arsenal appearance came in March 2011 and has been sent out on successive loan spells back at his first club Sao Paulo, the Brazilian club are said to be keen on signing the midfielder on an outright basis and Wenger will look to complete the deal as soon as possible.
Arsene Wenger will then turn his attention to four possible new additions.
The Gunners boss will step-up interest in Newcastle United winger Hatem Ben Arfa who he feels can offer the club an improved wide attacking option, an issue that is perhaps back on the agenda following Theo Walcott’s seemingly successful conversion into a striker.
Having seen Demba Ba leave for Chelsea and with captain Fabricio Coloccini also threatening to quit the Magpies, the former Marseille man may well be open to a move to Arsenal.
Though Alan Pardew’s side narrowly missed out on a Champions League berth last term the North-East side have plummeted down the Premier League table this season.
Arsene Wenger has been scouting young German forward Andre Schurrle for a number of months and will look to lure the Bayer Leverkusen man to the Emirates Stadium this summer but knows he will have to beat Chelsea to the 22 year old’s signature.
The West London side have made two unsuccessful bids for the adaptable German international and Arsenal hope to improve their attacking options by winning the race to sign the former Mainz man who has helped Sami Hyypia’s side to second spot in the Bundesliga this season.
Wilfried Zaha is a target for the current transfer window, but one that Wenger will have to outflank Sir Alex Ferguson in order to win the race. The Crystal Palace man has outgrown his Selhurst Park side but the Eagles are sticking to their guns with regards to a demand for a big price for the England man and Ian Holloway will insist that any move would include the proviso that the 20 year old be loaned back for the rest of the current campaign.
Wenger also believes he needs to strengthen his goalkeeping options and though Arsenal have been linked with established talents in this regard, most prominently Liverpool’s Pepe Reina, the Gunners boss will look to make the most of Birmingham City’s financial woes by making a cut-price move for England international Jack Butland.
In order to make way for the teenage keeper Vito Mannone may well be loaned out or made available on a permanent basis.
Butland was named in Roy Hodgson’s Euro 2012 squad despite having not played a game for his St Andrews’ side, the starlet custodian has gone on to be a rare bright spot in what has been a disastrous season for Lee Clark’s side.