Arsenal may well have to take some hits in the upcoming summer transfer window when it comes to offloading players.
Arsenal need to make space in their squad this summer in order to accommodate new arrivals.
Mikel Arteta will be keen to bolster his squad in a number of key areas. However, funds will be needed to bring these new additions in. A financial data expert has stated that Arsenal will have money to spend this summer, but sporting director Edu will still need to sell well.
Arteta is planning an overhaul of his Arsenal squad this summer, with the aim of being able to surpass Manchester City next season.
Arsenal set to fall short of projected sales target
According to a report in The Express, Arsenal could bring in “£182 million” through sales this summer, with a number of players potentially set to leave the club.
Baked into this £182 million figure is the contention that the North London club could attract offers worth £15 million for Thomas Partey, £20 million for Fabio Vieira, £15 million for Kieran Tierney, and £30 million for Emile Smith Rowe.
If Arsenal fans are expecting the club to fetch such fees for these players then they are due to be disappointed.
Why Arsenal will struggle to offload players for big money
The time has come for Arsenal to move on from Partey. His recurrent injury issues make him a burden on the squad, and the 30-year-old is no longer the player he once was. Given his inability to stay fit, though, finding a buyer willing to take on his wages may prove impossible, never mind a suitor happy to shell out £15 million on top of that.
Arsenal paid £34 million to sign Vieira from Porto in the summer of 2022. Since his arrival at the Emirates Stadium, the 23-year-old Portuguese playmaker has shown flashes of quality, but has never been able to sustain a run in the side as a regular starter. There are question marks over his ability to cope with the physicality of the Premier League, too.
There can be no doubting Tierney’s talent, but the Scottish left-back spent this season on loan with Real Sociedad after Arsenal failed to offload him on a permanent basis last summer. His time in Spain was once again beset with fitness issues, which will devalue him further.
Arteta has a big decision to make this summer between Vieira and Smith Rowe. Any money brought in for the latter will be classed as pure profit given his status as a Hale End academy graduate, but even so £30 million would be an ambitious ask for a player who has been reduced to a bit-part role under Arteta for the last two seasons. Smith Rowe has shone in the Premier League before, but his stock has fallen dramatically since then.