According to reports, Arsenal have already decided whether to sell ‘two big names in January’ as they could be ‘forced’ to cash in.
The Gunners were active in the summer transfer market for most of the window as they looked to boost their chances of winning the Premier League and/or Champions League this season.
Arsenal spent over £250m on summer signings, with Viktor Gyokeres, Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke, Martin Zubimendi and Piero Hincapie among their most notable additions.
With these signings, the north London outfit secured most of Mikel Arteta and Andrea Berta’s leading summer targets, though they had to offload several unwanted talents to balance the books at the end of the window.
Fabio Vieira, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Oleksandr Zinchenko were among the players to move elsewhere and more exits are possible in January.
Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus currently stand out as likely candidates to leave as they were linked with several clubs in the summer and have fallen in the pecking order following the summer arrivals of Gyokeres, Eze and Madueke.
Now, Football Insider claims the Gunners are ‘already planning to sell’ these ‘two big names in January’ as they will be ‘set for a move away if not utilised’.
A separate report from Football Insider suggests Arsenal will be ‘forced’ to sanction January exits if they want to ‘pave the way for incomings’.
The report adds:
‘With the Gunners aiming to challenge Liverpool for the Premier League title, they may have to strengthen again in January to ensure they are not negatively affected by injuries.
‘However, sources say the North London side have to bring in funds when the window reopens before they can go out and make further additions.’
The emergence of teenager Max Dowman has been another blow for Trossard and Jesus, but William Gallas has explained why he thinks Arsenal need to “take care of him”.
“Max Dowman already has that maturity. My goodness, we’ll see how it goes with him. But for now, it all depends on his body,” Gallas said.
“If he’s strong, at 15, then he’s definitely able to play a few minutes. I’d be careful about giving him too much time. He can’t play a full 90 minutes yet, nobody that age would be ready for it. I think for now he can start to adjust, but he can’t be considered fully ready to be a first-team player just yet.
“I don’t know what his contract situation is, so Arsenal have to make sure to take care of him and keep hold of him. Perhaps that, along with his obvious talent, is one of the reasons he’s involved with the first team this season. It’s great to see a player of his quality who is English, too.
“Don’t forget Jack Wilshere emerged when he was 16. I think he came through with us around that time, and he looked ready from the start.
“He had that body shape already, he was already mature. He came to us as a teenager and already looked 20. So for him, because he was also clever and very intelligent in how he saw the game, he could adjust.”