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:
3Nacho Monreal
- Age: 32
- Position: Defence
- Appearances in 2017/18: 38
Monreal’s contract situation is flying a bit under the radar at the moment, likely because of his age and injury problems. Nonetheless, as the only fit senior left-back Arsenal have right now, the Spaniard is pretty crucial to the side.
Given Monreal made more appearances for the team than Ramsey last season, you’d think the club would be just as keen to hold onto him. Then again, he hasn’t really shown any desire to leave, so hopefully it’ll just be a case of getting the details right and moving on.