Arsenal have reportedly put ‘several players up for sale’ as Mikel Arteta ‘looks to raise funds’ to sign West Ham midfielder Declan Rice.
The Gunners are expected to finish second in the Premier League this season, which is an incredible achievement considering where they have finished in their previous three seasons under Arteta.
Saying that, everyone associated with the club will feel extremely disappointed having sat top of the table for the vast majority of this season.
Arsenal can still win the league, but need Manchester City to drop points in at least two matches between now and the end of the season, while winning all of their games.
Ahead of their return to the Champions League, it is expected to be a busy summer transfer window at The Emirates.
Rice is reportedly the club’s top summer target and is expected to cost at least £70million, despite the fact he is out of contract in 2024. Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea are also keen.
Meanwhile, the Gunners remain linked with Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo, who they tried to sign with a £70m bid in January.
Much has been said about the potential incoming transfers, but not a lot about who could leave Arsenal this summer.
Reiss Nelson is out of contract at the end of the season and is said to be eager to agree a new deal, while Ainsley Maitland-Niles has confirmed he will depart this summer when his contract runs out.
Arsenal had the option to extend Maitland-Niles’ deal by a further year, however, he will leave when his loan spell at Southampton comes to an end.
In terms of player sales, the only names to really get a mention are Kieran Tierney and Folarin Balogun – who is on loan at French club Stade Reims.
Balogun is enjoying an outstanding campaign, scoring 18 goals in 32 Ligue 1 appearances.
This is a fantastic return for a player with little top-flight experience, and he is quite rightly attracting interest from all around Europe.
Champions League semi-finalists AC Milan are believed to be interested in signing the 21-year-old, and given his loan spell at Reims, it would not be a surprise to see him pursue a move elsewhere.
Having scored 18 goals this term, Balogun is hardly going to want to come back to Arsenal where he will probably be Arteta’s third-choice striker.
And according to TodoFichajes, the youngster is one of ‘several players’ the Gunners will look to offload this summer.
Two players Arsenal are ‘willing to listen to offers for’ are Granit Xhaka and Tierney.
Xhaka has been a crucial player this season, while the latter has struggled for game time following the signing of Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Arteta ‘is looking to raise funds’ and is also ‘considering’ the sale of Balogun.
Arsenal’s ‘main transfer target’ is the aforementioned Rice.
Xhaka was linked with a move to AS Roma in the summer of 2021 and appeared to be very close to completing the switch, however, the Italian side did not want to pay the Gunners’ asking price.
Meanwhile, David Ornstein has revealed that Charlie Patino will leave Arsenal this summer.
The 19-year-old has spent this season on loan with Championship club Blackpool and is reluctant to make another temporary departure.
Patino is one of the highest-rated youngsters at The Emirates and this news has not been well received amongst the Arsenal fan base.
He is under contract until 2025 and the club are ‘receptive to his desire to seek regular first-team football’.
‘Amicable talks have taken place with Arsenal’ and the club are ‘ready to help facilitate a switch’.
source: football365.com
