Arsenal prepared to sell these two midfield stars to free up wage bill
Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan will reportedly be among the players to leave Arsenal this summer.
The Gunners are all but guaranteed to miss out on a top-four finish in the Premier League and won’t participate in next season’s Champions League unless they win the Europa League.
Manager Unai Emery is planning on letting at least five first-team players go in the transfer window, according to a report in The Sun.
Ozil and Mhkitaryan will be among that group after failing to convince the Spaniard that they are worthy of their high wages.
With the club’s transfer budget expected to be limited this summer, getting rid of Ozil’s £350,000-per-week salary and Mkhitaryan’s £180,000 wages could free up some funds.
Aaron Ramsey has already agreed a move to Juventus, while Danny Welbeck won’t be offered a new contract.
Mohamed Elneny, Carl Jenkinson and Shkodran Mustafi could also be sacrificed to facilitate a squad rebuild.
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Alasdair Mackenzie is a freelance journalist based in Rome, and a FourFourTwo contributor since 2015. When not pulling on the FFT shirt, he can be found at Reuters, The Times and the i. An Italophile since growing up on a diet of Football Italia on Channel 4, he now counts himself among thousands of fans sharing a passion for Ross County and Lazio.