Vlad Dragomir’s agent insists they’re still in negotiations with Arsenal over a new deal, despite the club including him on the list of players to be released in June.

Arsenal released an article on Friday listing all the players who ‘are leaving Arsenal Football Club on June 30, 2018’, and included Dragomir on the list alongside the likes of Santi Cazorla, Per Mertesacker and Jack Wilshere.

Dragomir’s agent, Catalin Sarmasan, denies this is necessarily the case though. He insists player and club are still in talks over a possible extension, and that’s still their priority before they look at other teams.

“It’s true that the contract with Arsenal is over tomorrow,” he said. “We are in negotiations with the club, I do not know what list they posted on the official site. It is premature to talk about offers from other teams.”

The comments are a bit confusing, because there isn’t really any reason for Arsenal to post that Dragomir is leaving unless he actually is.

The club haven’t included other players who are out of contract, but haven’t made a final decision over whether to accept a new offer, on the released list. For example, Joshua Dasilva, who is yet to agree an extension.

Perhaps this is a negotiating tactic, from one side or the other. Maybe Arsenal are insisting they won’t improve Dragomir’s offer, and are putting him on the list of released players to show they’re serious.

Alternatively, it’s possible Sarmasan knows his client is leaving, but wants to act like Arsenal are still an option as a bargaining tool with other clubs.

We’ll find out soon enough, as the player won’t want to remain out of contract for too long.