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No breakthrough in 2 Arsenal player contract talks

Arsenal are yet to reach a breakthrough in contract talks with Alex Marciniak and Josh Ogunnaike, with both players’ current deals expiring today.

Declan Rice, Max Dowman and Josh Ogunnaike and Marli Salmon of Arsenal warm up during a training session ahead of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Semi Final First Leg match between Atletico de Madrid and Arsenal FC at Sobha Realty Training Centre on April 28, 2026 in London Colney, England. (Photo by James Fearn/Getty Images)
Photo by James Fearn/Getty Images

June 30th is the standard date for football contracts to expire, at least when it comes to Premier League clubs, which means a number of young players will be departing Arsenal at midnight tonight.

Earlier this month, Arsenal confirmed the 15 players from the u21s, u18s, and women’s team set to depart as free agents, adding that three players were still in contract talks.

One of those was Caitlin Foord, who has since extended. But there have been no official updates on the other two – Alex Marciniak and Josh Ogunnaike.

Josh Ogunnaike scoring for the Arsenal u19s (Photo via Arsenal.com)
Photo via Arsenal.com

Tom Canton reports for Football.London that whilst the club has indeed been in talks with Marciniak and Ogunnaike, he understands that there has been no breakthrough so far.

As things stand, that means the duo will be on the way out, but there’s no reason why talks can’t continue after June 30th.

Interested clubs will also have to agree a compensation fee with Arsenal to sign either player, as the two players are under-23, and that’s not always a straightforward task.

Dan Casey’s move to Crystal Palace fell apart last year after club-to-club talks, despite the player being out of contract with Arsenal. He ended up joining Fulham later in the 2025/26 season.

arsenal training ground london colney
Arsenal training ground London Colney

So whilst today is a deadline day of sorts for player contracts, it doesn’t really change that much. Marciniak and Ogunnaike can still agree a fresh deal with Arsenal, and if they’re set on leaving, they’ll still need the Gunners to approve their transfer fee.

Arsenal u18 coach Adam Birchall (Photo via Arsenal.com)
Photo via Arsenal.com
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