Arsenal have six players they are looking to sell before August 31 once Martin Odegaard and Aaron Ramsdale’s arrivals are confirmed, according to reports. The Gunners have had a busy summer but have only agreed one sale so far with Joe Willock joining Newcastle for £25million following a productive loan spell at St James’ Park last term.
David Luiz also left upon the expiry of his contract while Matteo Guendouzi and William Saliba both joined Marseille on loan, with no other significant departures at the Emirates.
By contrast, Nuno Tavares, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Ben White have all joined for around £76million while Odegaard will set Arsenal back another £34m.
The Norwegian spent the second half of last season on loan at Arsenal from Real Madrid and will join permanently from Los Blancos imminently, with a deal potentially set to be announced on Friday.
Sheffield United goalkeeper Ramsdale will also join for around £30m to serve as a rival to Bernd Leno’s No 1 spot with it hoped the England international will eventually displace the German as first choice.
And technical director Edu’s focus from now until the end of the window looks set to change off the back of those two deals with outgoings the priority given Arsenal need to raise cash to offset their expenditure.
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The Daily Mirror say that Arsenal have six players up for sale with Willian, Sead Kolasinac, Lucas Torreira, Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah and Ainsley Maitland-Niles all of those they want to get off the books.
Hector Bellerin’s desire to leave the club is also mentioned although it appears increasingly likely he will be forced to stay with Inter Milan having signed Denzel Dumfries instead.
Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, other potential destinations, have also signed new players in his position this summer.
Arsenal do want a new right-back but given the scale of their investment it may be that Bellerin would need to leave before a replacement can be signed.
A new striker is also wanted but Tammy Abraham joined Roma instead while Lautaro Martinez appears poised to sign a new long-term contract with Inter.
Arsenal have had little success finding buyers for the likes of Willian, Kolasinac, Torreira, Nelson, Nketiah and Maitland-Niles so far this summer.
Willian, 32, is thought to earn wages in the region of £200,000 a week after joining from Chelsea on a free a year ago and is therefore proving tough to find a buyer for.
Torreira was on loan at Atletico Madrid last term and has no role under Arteta. He annoyed supporters by posting a picture on social media of himself at a theme park in Madrid at the same time Arsenal were facing Brentford.
Left-back Kolasinac has been tipped to join former team-mate Mesut Ozil at Fenerbahce while Nelson has been the subject of interest from Crystal Palace, who would like to agree a loan deal.
The Eagles were also linked with Nketiah earlier in the window while Brighton are another team who have been mentioned in connection with the 22-year-old, who has seen Folarin Balogun overtake him as the main back-up to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette up front.
Maitland-Niles could end up staying at Arsenal and serving as a back-up right-back option although Leicester, Southampton and Burnley were all said to be keen on the player last month.
“We know we have still things to do to get what we want. It is but things take time. There are all the times different things and different parties needed to get things done.
“For sure we are trying to do what we have. We have ownership that they are willing to invest in the team and they want to get the team better and with bigger aims.
“We are trying to find the balance, because at the same time we need to be careful because we need a financial position that is sustainable and healthy for the club.
“Anything is possible and there is still a lot of things to be done and a lot of clubs involved. You can see that the ball starts to roll in a different speed in the last week or so.
“It’s been a difficult window. Probably a lot of things will happen in the last week or so.”
