It’s clear that the situation at Arsenal could take a few years to turn around, while the clear out in January could be continued into the summer with more senior players set to move on.
The Sun have reported on the latest situation at the club and it sounds like they’re struggling financially just now, while missing out on European football would be a further blow.
It means that some high earners may have to move on in the summer as Mikel Arteta is tasked with slashing more money from the wage bill, but this may surprise a few fans.
The Metro recently reported that Arteta is a big fan of David Luiz for his influence on the group and there was talk of a new contract, yet The Sun claim he’s set to be released instead due to his salary of £120k per week.
They do have a few centre backs and next season could finally be William Saliba’s time to shine, but it would be a huge risk to let a leader go if the plan is to put the younger players into the team.
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The other casualty is set to be Alexandre Lacazette who reportedly earns £150k per week, but again it would be a surprise when you consider he’s played in the majority of their games this season.
The issue with Lacazette may not actually be his ability and the decision to let him go would be with his general situation – He’s turning 30, his contract is up in 2022 and the club are nervous about giving him an extension on wages like that, so it would be their final chance to cash in.
It’s going to be such a fine balance for Arteta to get right because he needs his team to be competitive, while cutting too many senior players can easily result in a leadership vacuum and that’s a tough situation to manage if momentum starts to turn against you.
It doesn’t have to be complete doom and gloom because the club do have some cracking young players and it will be fun to see how they develop, but they could also be wasted if they don’t have guidance around them.
Good