Arsenal transfer nightmare, squad could crumble as four star men linked with exits

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Arsenal have reportedly been trying to trim their wage bill, but this arguably wasn’t the end of the transfer window they were hoping for.

A whole host of first-team stars have been linked with an exit from the Emirates, and the first two discussed here are a pair that the club would undoubtedly have hoped to keep.

The Sun claim that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has rejected the latest offer from Arsenal of a contract worth £180,000-a-week, and has told the club that he wants to leave.

In turn, after crunch talks with chief executive Ivan Gazidis and Arsene Wenger, the Gunners will now have to decide whether or not to sell him or make him see out the final 12 months of his contract and risk losing him for nothing next summer.

It’s a terrible position to be in for Arsenal as they would have hoped to see Oxlade-Chamberlain accept and stay with them, but the report adds that they will now decide over the next 24 hours what to do, with Chelsea reportedly set to offer £35m for the England international.

Meanwhile, The Sun also report that defender Shkodran Mustafi is pushing for an exit, with Inter said to be keen on acquiring his services.

It seems like a strange situation even though there is plenty of competition for places, but with Wenger not entirely ruling out the chances of an exit this week, there’s a question mark there too.

While those two are unwanted exits, the other two reports may be a little easier for  Arsenal fans to deal with.

As per Standard Sport, Watford are back in the race to sign Kieran Gibbs with Arsenal said to be willing to lower their £15m valuation of the bit-part left-back, and now discussions are ongoing for the 27-year-old who will hope to move on and secure regular football elsewhere.

Elsewhere, Takvim suggest that Galatasaray are interested in making a shock loan move for Alex Iwobi, with the Turkish outlet reporting that sporting director Cenk Ergun has already begun talks with Arsenal and is willing to travel to London next week in order to reach an agreement.

The 21-year-old has also struggled for playing time so far this season, but opinion may be split over whether or not this is a sensible move for both him and Arsenal at this stage of his career.

More Stories Alex Iwobi Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Kieran Gibbs Shkodran Mustafi