There will be a mass clear out of players at Arsenal this summer as Mikel Arteta aims to make four top signings in a bid to finally win the Premier League.
The Gunners are facing the prospect of another trophyless season after they were knocked out of both domestic cups, while their Premier League hopes are fading.
They trail Liverpool by six points in the title race, which could become nine if the Reds win Wednesday’s Merseyside derby at Goodison Park.
There is still a chance they could win the Champions League, but club legend Paul Merson is doubtful of that following their woeful performance at Newcastle last week.
As such, Arteta is looking to strengthen his team in a number of areas come the summer and, according to the Mirror, has already sanctioned the departure of seven first-team stars in order to facilitate this.
For starters, Raheem Sterling and Neto will not be returning to the Emirates when their loan spells from Chelsea and Bournemouth come to an end.
Some have dubbed Sterling the ‘flop of the season’ after scoring just one goal in 18 games, while veteran goalkeeper Neto has only made one appearance and was only ever intended to be a stop-gap signing.
Thomas Partey, Jorginho and Kieran Tierney are all out of contract in the summer and set to depart Arsenal as free agents.
Jorginho and Tierney came close to leaving in January but Arteta didn’t want to weaken his squad amid injury issues, with the pair in talks to sign for Flamengo and Celtic respectively.
Finally, defensive duo Oleksandr Zinchenko and Jakub Kiwior will also be sold after falling out of favour, having started a combined four league games this season.
There is interest in Kiwior who has never really got going for the Gunners since his £16million move from Spezia, but Arsenal may struggle to offload Zinchenko having received no offers for the Ukrainian in January.
While the departure of the seven players may not raise significant transfer funds, it will certainly free up plenty of space on the wage bill as Arteta pursues a new striker, defensive midfielder and goalkeeper.
RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko has emerged as the top centre-forward target with Alexander Isak only likely to leave Newcastle for a Premier League record fee.
Reports suggest the north Londoners have won the race to sign highly-coveted Euro 2024 winner Martin Zubimendi for £51m and are also trying to lure teenage midfielder Sverre Nypan after a failed January move.
Finally, Arteta wants a new back-up keeper with long-time target Joan Garcia of Espanyol top of the shortlist.
For now, all attention is on the pitch with Arsenal looking to close the gap to Liverpool when they travel to struggling Leicester City on Saturday.
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