Mikel Arteta is set for a busy summer transfer window ahead as he tries to further reshape his Arsenal team. But the Spaniard will lose 10 players from his first-team squad on June 30. Arsenal are looking add more quality to their current team. This doesn’t mean that the players that are being sold are bad. It just means that Arsenal would need an upgrade over them inorder to close the gap with Manchester City.
What are the changes we could expect this transfer window at Arsenal
Ainsley Maitland-Niles is the most high-profile player that will be definitely depart. The 25-year-old spent the past campaign on loan at relegated Southampton after 20 years at the Gunners. Arsenal have now terminated his contract inorder to free up space.
Having returned to the Gunners in 2021, Maitland-Niles was handed a chance by Arteta to impress against Watford. A game the Gunners narrowly won. After the game, Arteta decided to heap praise on Maitland-Niles. He said:
“First of all, I see a different player in terms of his urgency, his commitment, the clarity in his play, his purpose. Since we made the decision (to keep him), it was clear what I was seeing that I wanted him to stay, because he was going to be useful.”He has a huge talent because he’s versatile enough to adapt to almost any position on the pitch. Today we made use of him to do what he had to do in the game, which was really important.”
As for the other nine players that have been released. They are Zach Awe, Joel Ideho, George Lewis, Matt Smith and Tom Smith, Kaleel Green, Alexandar Kovacevic, Tino Quamina and Mathaeus Roberts will all leave on June 30.
Nelson’s contract runs out later this month but the club have confirmed that negotiations. They are ongoing to strike a new deal for the winger, who impressed last season. The 23-year-old scored just four times last term. But one of those was the last-minute winner against Bournemouth in March.
