Emirates Stadium boss ready to conduct big squad cull.
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Arsene Wenger is ready to conduct a wholesale clear-out as he looks to improve his Arsenal squad after being given the backing of the Emirates Stadium board despite a less than glorious season.
The Gunners manager is ready to greatly reduce the club’s wagebill whilst also looking to garner significant funds from a mass exodus that he will then use to bring in significant additions to his Arsenal squad.
Wenger has been urged to cut down the number of players in his Arsenal playing staff and will look to reduce the number of player’s he chooses to retain at the club as well as the large number he chooses to keep on the books but put out on loan deals.
Russian international Andrei Arshavin and French centre-back Sebastien Squillaci will not be offered new contracts and will see their current deals come to a close this summer.
Arsene Wenger had hoped to make a nominal fee from a January sale of 31 year old winger Arshavin, a player who cost Arsenal £15m in February 2009 but will now see the player leave for nothing, however the North London club will benefit from the removal of the player’s reported £70k a week wage packet from the balance sheet.
Loaned out strike trio Nicklas Bendtner, Park Chu-Young and Marouane Chamakh will all be made available for permanent Arsenal exits, with Wenger being ready to accept reduced offers as he looks to sell a collection of striking talents he feels offer his squad little.
Danish giant Bendtner is currently on loan at Juventus but as yet has made little or no impact and is unlikely to join the Turin side on a permanent basis. There is said to be interest from a number of Bundesliga sides and Arsene Wenger will accept offers of around £5m for the 25 year old, who has never been a first team regular in his nine year spell at the club.
Park Chu-Young managed just 11 minutes of Premier League action in his first season at Arsenal before being sent to La Liga side Celta Vigo on a season long loan spell, during which the South Korean has at times impressed. Wenger will hope that the Spanish side take up the option of a permanent move to sign the former Monaco man.
Marouane Chamakh is away on loan at West Ham and Wenger doesn’t see the misfiring Moroccan as part of his first team plans and due to the fact that the striker arrived on a free transfer the Arsenal boss may well be ready to listen to offers as low at £2m, with his former club Bordeaux said to be considering a bid for the 29 year old.
Brazilian duo Denilson and Andre Santos are back in their homeland on loan deals and will both be keen on securing permanent moves to their respective clubs and only the matter of an agreed fee standing between deals for the duo to sign for Sao Paulo and Gremio respectively.
Wing-back Santos had a shocking series of displays at Arsenal this term and this coupled with his decision to collect Robin Van Persie’s shirt at half-time has left the 29 year old as a target of much anger from the Gunners faithful.
Denilson has to some extent re-ignited his career during successive season on loan at Sao Paulo.
Wenger will act to sell the 24 year old, who had at first shown real promise at Arsenal but hasn’t played a game for the club in almost two years.
Again Wenger is willing to offload the Brazilian on a free transfer so as to not be tied to the player’s existing wages when to all intents and purposes he is no longer a member of his Arsenal squad.
Though current number one keeper Wojciech Szczesny has made a number of errors of late Arsene Wenger is still not keen on using his other goalkeeping options and will look to offload both Vito Mannone and Lukasz Fabianski this summer.
Italian Mannone had a decent run of form when called upon this season but the 24 year old has been unable to win his spot back and is said to be keen to leave in order to secure regular first team football and a number of Serie A sides are said to be taking an interest in acquiring his services.
Lukasz Fabianski has suffered with injuries and poor form for much of his Arsenal tenure and with talk of Wenger looking to bring in an experienced keeper to keep Wojciech Szczesny on his toes, it appears that the 27 year old has played his last game for the club.
His last Premier League appearance came more than two years ago and it’s unlikely he will make another with a move away this summer almost certain.
French midfielder Abou Diaby limped off during Arsenal’s win over Aston Villa, suffering an all too predicable injury leaving Arsene Wenger with little choice than to look to finally offload a player who has flatted to deceive for much of his seven years at the club.
Often drifting in and out of games he has at times looked both excellent and flawed and it’s that inconsistency that Wenger is finding hard to justify and will again be open to offers. A number of Ligue 1 sides may well be ready to offer Diaby a way out.
Johan Djourou has been sent out on loan to Hannover and the Swiss international has already stated his intention to secure a permanent Arsenal exit after coming to the realization that he was no longer an important member of Wenger’s first team picture, as evidenced by the fact that he failed to make a single Premier League appearance in the first half of the campaign.
After a shaky debut for the Bundesliga side, which saw Hannover concede five against Schalke, Djourou has greatly improved helping his side to three wins and a draw in their next five fixtures, form that the Swiss international will hope leads to a permanent move to the German top tier side.