The January transfer window is upon us and it is the last chance for Arsenal to obtain a few £££ for a number of players, so who is likely to leave?

LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 21: Eddie Nketiah of Arsenal celebrates with the match ball following their side's victory in the Carabao Cup Quarter Final match between Arsenal and Sunderland at Emirates Stadium on December 21, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 21: Eddie Nketiah of Arsenal celebrates with the match ball following their side’s victory in the Carabao Cup Quarter Final match between Arsenal and Sunderland at Emirates Stadium on December 21, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Arsenal have five players heading into the final six months of their contract as we approach the January transfer window.

Of those five, the club appear only to want one of them to stay – Eddie Nketiah.

Arsenal have been trying to shift Mohamed Elneny for years.

Calum Chambers hasn’t been near a matchday squad since October, when he scored against Leeds in the League Cup.

Sead Kolasinac, still injured, is another the club would happily see leave.

Then, of course, there is Alexandre Lacazette.

Handed the armband when it was taken from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, there are no attempts to get him to stay.

There has been no new contract offer, so, despite Mikel Arteta mumbling that he likes him, they aren’t really putting in much effort to keep him.

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 22: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette of Arsenal celebrate after the Premier League match between Arsenal and Aston Villa at Emirates Stadium on October 22, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 22: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette of Arsenal celebrate after the Premier League match between Arsenal and Aston Villa at Emirates Stadium on October 22, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang himself could also be out of the club in January, too, albeit on loan with the club subsidising his wages – something they’d also have to do for Kolasinac if he were to see the last six months of his deal out on loan.

Folarin Balogun, along with other youngsters, is set to head out on loan with Middlesbrough.

That’s a lot of striking talent that could be leaving the club this month, so it’s no surprise to see us being linked with a number of players in that area.

In addition to players Arsenal want to leave, there are a few who could be pushing for an exit.

Bernd Leno is eyeing up a place in Germany’s World Cup squad for Qatar and sitting on Arsenal’s bench every week won’t help. I don’t see any requests from the German being successful, but you never know.

If Arsenal were to let him leave, they would certainly need to bring in a replacement.

Arthur Okonkwo, although on the bench to cover Leno’s recent injury, is not ready to be Arsenal’s number two.

Pablo Mari, who had been disappeared for over 50 days before catching Covid, has been linked with a return to Flamengo, which could well happen.

As always with these things, however, the player’s wages are a major stumbling block.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles, meanwhile, has already gone, and is right to be feeling a little misled.

He was happy to leave Arsenal last summer, but the club, Arteta in particular, convinced him to stay with the promise of more minutes.

He’s actually had significantly fewer.

So far this season, Maitland-Niles has played 472 minutes, has started just four games (two in the league, two in the League Cup), and has played the full 90 just three times.

He averages around 43 minutes per appearance, of which he’s had 11.

Those aren’t great stats and they are even worse than last season, before he was sent on loan to West Brom.

Maitland-Niles had played 16 times for Arsenal by then, totalling up nearly three times the minutes compared to this season (1,183).

He also played the full 90 eight times and averaged 74 minutes per appearance.