With this summer set to be an important transfer window for Arsenal in their attempts to sign quality players while extending current contract deals to keep hold of key players, we look at whose existing deal expires when.
Unsurprisingly, 24-year-old French striker Yaya Sanogo’s current deal expires this summer.
Having joined the club on a free from Auxerre in July 2013, Sanogo is expected to leave after the season finishes – having made 20 competitive appearances for Arsene Wenger’s side without showing much more than a few promising flashes which suggested he could be a good fit in the first-team.
Serious back and hamstring injuries ultimately hampered his progress during the 2013/14 and 14/15 seasons, whilst he has only recently recovered from the calf injury which kept him on the sidelines for almost a year.
2018
2018 is the year that things begin to get interesting.
Everyone knows by now that both Mesut Özil and Alexis Sánchez’s deals end in little over 12 months’ time, but who else is in a similar position?
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain limped off with a hamstring injury against Southampton and the fact that Arsenal are ‘sweating’ about his condition just highlights how important the 23-year-old’s contributions have been in recent months this season. Liverpool and Manchester City continue to monitor his ongoing situation.
Per Mertesacker and Santi Cazorla have both been plagued by injury and sentiment might not be enough to keep them at the club for much longer, unless they return and surprise everyone with consistent displays once again.
Kieran Gibbs, who is happy that a new formation is giving him another opportunity for regular minutes. He’s been linked with a few Premier League clubs, though his future is still uncertain.
Aaron Ramsey, whom Wenger will be keen to keep despite suggestions that he wants a move to Spain sooner rather than later.
Jack Wilshere, whose encouraging loan spell at Bournemouth was cut short by another unfortunate injury. Question marks remain over whether he’s a sustainable investment in the long-term.
Matt Macey is very much a goalkeeper for the future but at 22, he is likely to want regular minutes elsewhere once again after a good spell with Luton Town before his recall in April.
Carl Jenkinson has been talking about his future in recent months and it seems as though the 25-year-old will have to leave home comforts to re-ignite his playing career. Injuries and tough competition has seen him eased into playing u23/reserve football.
Then you have the other two coming back from loan spells in Europe. Joel Campbell’s career at Arsenal seems like it’ll end this summer with newly-promoted Brighton interested whilst goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has reaffirmed his desire to challenge Petr Cech for a first-choice spot in goal next term.
Whether the hierarchy believes he deserves another deal, remains to be seen.
2019
Into the players with two years remaining on their contracts, and there is another mix of experience based on position.
Petr Cech turns 35 next week and the current first-choice isn’t expected to leave anytime soon. Mathieu Debuchy, 31, is after a lack of regular minutes has left him frustrated.
Theo Walcott is Arsenal’s current longest-serving player and despite not featuring since a brief cameo against Spurs, will be keen to stay after his impressive goal tally for the season.
Goals are hard to come by from Chuba Akpom’s perspective, especially after another frustrating loan spell in the Championship – this time with Brighton as they were promoted to the top flight.
Danny Welbeck and Olivier Giroud are poised to battle it out for a central forward role in future whilst Gabriel has silenced his critics with assured performances when called upon this term.
Nacho Monreal has been inconsistent over the last eighteen months with many suggesting he’s past his peak but a new centre-back role in the current formation provides him more support than his usual position as a left-back.
This summer is likely to see David Ospina also leave, as the Colombian first-choice goalkeeper wants regular minutes and with Cech his competitor, he was never likely to get that.
2020
2020 and again, a mix of experience and youth. Alex Iwobi, Krystian Bielik, Calum Chambers and Rob Holding are all currently 22 or younger and next season could be an intriguing one for their respective development.
It seems inevitable that, unless given assurances, Lucas Perez will be off this summer.
Current captain Laurent Koscielny extended his current deal recently whilst Mohamed Elneny will be hoping for more chances to impress, having played well when given the opportunity across all competitions this season.
Takuma Asano is very much a forgotten man and understandably so, having not featured for Arsenal since his surprise move. He’s got the option of another year at VfB Stuttgart so it’s unlikely that we’ll see him playing for the Gunners next season.
Francis Coquelin, just like Koscielny, extended his deal with the club in January this year whilst Granit Xhaka and Shkodran Mustafi were bought last summer on four-year deals.
Emiliano Martinez is another promising goalkeeper that has set his sights on a first-team breakthrough, having made two league appearances with both Cech and Ospina ruled out through injury in April.
2022
Hector Bellerín signed a contract extension in November until 2023 but this hasn’t stopped endless speculation about his future with both Manchester City and former club Barcelona interested.