Arsenal are planning early contract talks with five players whose current deals expire in 2019.

Allowing players to run their contracts down to the final year and then being forced to sell them has been a serial problem for Arsenal down the years. And according to the Telegraph, the club are determined to not repeat the mistakes made this summer and will move early to extend the contracts that expire in 2019 by December.

That includes the likes of Petr Cech, Nacho Monreal, Aaron Ramsey, Danny Welbeck and Theo Walcott. The club are also still hoping to extend the contracts of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez, but are less optimistic. These contracts will be the first test of new legal expert Huss Fahmy, who was hired this summer to work on contracts with negotiator Dick Law.

Provided the players want to stay, Cech and Monreal would likely be offered short-term extensions, while Ramsey would get a long-term extension. Welbeck’s extension might depend on his fitness. As for Walcott, he might be less receptive to a new deal given his recent lack of playing time.

We’ve seen first hand how the uncertainty over contracts can damage the team’s performances. Hopefully this time Arsenal will have a better grip on the situation.