With the European transfer window closing last week, Arsenal can stop worrying about players who might leave immediately, and start focusing on new contracts for those they want to keep next summer.
First on the agenda for Arsenal should be the six senior players who will become free agents in 2019, as it stands.
Mostly the club have done a good job of getting new signings tied down to longer term deals. So much so that next year Laurent Koscielny and Carl Jenkinson will be the only two players with a year left on their contracts to worry about.
However, there are still some problems hanging over from the previous era to sort this season. Let’s have a look at who those six players are, and how likely they are to sign new deals to stay in North London:
2Stephan Lichtsteiner
- Age: 34
- Position: Defence
- Appearances in 2017/18: 32
Lichtsteiner only just joined Arsenal from Juventus this summer, but he’s already less than a year from the end of his contract. The Gunners clearly didn’t want to risk signing a 34-year-old who picks up an injury in the first few months and never plays again, whilst picking up wages for the next few years.
The defender’s situation shouldn’t be a problem for the club though, as the right-back agreed to an option in his contract to extend the deal for an additional year. All Arsenal have to do is activate the option and they can hang on to the experienced international for a bit longer.