We’re heading into the final week of the European transfer window and while Arsenal can’t purchase any players, there are up to six players who could leave.
Nacho Monreal
The Spaniard is has reportedly agreed a two-year deal to take him back to Spain with Unai Emery admitting that Monreal could leave the club before the window closes.
It seems a strange move given Kieran Tierney’s injury problems and the fact that Sead Kolasinac has been far from reliable but with the 33-year-old turning 34 in February and out of contract next summer, Arsenal have clearly opted to grab what little transfer fee they can for him.
He’s rated at around £7m but expect him to go for half that or less.
Shkodran Mustafi
Unai Emery couldn’t have been clearer about Shkodran Mustafi’s future and, although the German doesn’t want to leave, his father/agent has admitted they will try to find another club.
It might not be that straight forward, however. Arsenal reportedly want around £27m for the man they paid £36.9m for, a fee widely regarded as excessive. They won’t get it and we may have to accept Mustafi leaving on loan.
He has two years left on his current Arsenal deal worth around £90kpw.
Mohamed Elneny
Another who has been told he can leave, his father hasn’t quite got the hint the way Mustafi’s has and said, remarkably, that Arsenal are not trying to force his son out, rather, it is the 27-year-old who wants out to get regular minutes.
With three years left on his current deal, Elneny should be easier to sell than Mustafi but the only clubs interested so far seem to be Galatasaray and Fenerbahce which poses a problem. Those two clubs are frequently linked with a host of players, none of whom they can ever afford, so we may have to accept a loan deal here too.
Henrikh Mykhitaryan
With Alex Iwobi being sold to Everton, I thought we might have changed our mind on Mkhitaryan but it seems, according to some sections of the press, we’re still trying to shift him on as well.
The Armenian has been a shadow of the player who impressed at Dortmund, ruined by Jose Mourinho and his Manchester United move, but at 30 should still hold some value.
Whether anyone will step up to meet his £180kpw wages is another matter entirely.
Kostantinos Mavropanos
It Mavropanos does leave in this window, it will likely be on loan rather than as a sale, although the club might be getting fed up with his groin injury that just refuses to heal.
He’s not expected back in training until October so it’s hard to see how the club would get another to agree to take him, even on loan, and he may need to wait until the January window to get his chance.
Emile Smith Rowe
Another who would have left on loan already had he not had his own injury problems, Smith Rowe turned out for the u23s on Friday night against Everton and could be on his way back to Germany for another loan spell.
The transfer window closes around Europe on 2 September.