Keep, Sell Or Loan

Well, when all is said and done, we have had a horrid end to the season. We were in pole position for a CL spot and we blew it. We had an excellent chance of winning the Europa League and instead, we end up getting thrashed by a team who didn't really have any other incentive to win this trophy other than ensuring we don't get into the CL. Depressing stuff.

This was definitely one of the least enjoyable seasons ever as an Arsenal fan.

So, with that in mind, I think yesterday epitomised just how badly we need a clear out. So let's go through each player we have and let me know who we should keep, get rid of or if you're undecided about what to do with them.

I want this to be what YOU want to happen though, not what you think will realistically happen. This is about personal opinion.

I won't include Cech as he is retiring, Ramsey as we know he is off to Juventus or Welbeck, as the club already announced he will be leaving once his contract expires.

This is mine:

Bellerin - keep
Elneny - sell
Sokratis - keep
Koscielny - sell
Mkhitaryan - sell
Lacazette - keep
Ozil - sell
Torreira - keep
Lichtsteiner - don't renew contract
Ospina - sell
Aubameyang - keep
Maitland-Niles - loan
Holding - keep
Iwobi - keep
Monreal - don't renew contract
Leno - keep
Mustafi - sell
Chambers - keep
Jenkinson - sell
Martinez - keep
Mavrapanos - loan
Guendouzi - keep
Kolasinac - sell
Xhaka - sell
Asano - sell
Smith-Rowe - keep
Nketiah - keep
Saka - loan
Amaechi - keep
Willock - keep

What would yours be?

 

Surely green should be keep, orange loan and red sell?!

 

Does that really matter?

Just let me know what you think.

 

Lichtsteiner - retain on coaching staff
Maitland-Niles - keep
Mavrapanos - keep
Kolasinac - keep
Xhaka - keep

I know it's not a popular view but I feel Xhaka has experience we may need. Same for Lichtsteiner and Kolasinac. Maitland-Niles is a strong prospect and will get better as will Mavropanos. Otherwise I agree with you.

 

I'm not going to go down the whole list. But this is who in my opinion should be sold:

Xhaka, Mustafi, Ozil, Welbeck, Monreal, Kos, Iwobi, Jenkinson, Elneny, Mkhi, Licht, Kola. We can make 100 million out of all that surely. And just get in replacements.

 

I think the more damning thing is I don’t care who goes / is sold.

There is not one player on arsenal that I would be upset about if he went, and that’s the truth.

Even auba or laca would at least get us money to reinvest.

 

True, honestly I have no emotional bond with any of these players, a la Henry or Bergkamp. They can all go, won't make a difference. It's just a matter of who is expedient.

 

Personally, I just don't see what Xhaka offers. He wasn't bad yesterday to be fair, but I just find his lack of pace and coverage a big concern in the position he plays. He takes too long to shift the ball from his feet and is too one-dimensional. There are better players we can get who offer more variety in that midfield.

Mavrapanos looks rusty. He has potential, he is one for the future, but he needs game time. I can't see him getting much next season, so I think a loan move would be best.

I am torn on Maitland-Niles. It is clear that he isn't a fullback/wingback and he is a central midfider by trade. If Emery isn't going to start him in midfield, and sees him as a wing/full-back, he needs game time to learn that position effectively. Again, he won't get the game time at Arsenal, especially as we are heavily linked with PSG right-back Thomas Muenier.

I am surprised that you want to keep Kolasinac. For the money we are paying him, again, I just do not see what he offers. He is another one-dimensional player who is wasteful in possession and is slow at getting back to defend. He has not had a good season. We are paying him £120k per week, which is criminal. Do you not feel we could do better?

I don't see Lichtsteiner wanting to stay at Arsenal in any capacity. I think he's said before that he intends to go back to Switzerland or Italy once he's done here.

 

Bellerin - keep
Elneny - sell
Sokratis - keep
Koscielny - keep
Mkhitaryan - sell
Lacazette - keep
Ozil - sell
Torreira - keep
Lichtsteiner - get rid
Ospina - sell
Aubameyang - keep
Maitland-Niles - keep
Holding - keep
Iwobi - keep
Monreal - get rid
Leno - keep
Mustafi - sell
Chambers - sell
Jenkinson - sell
Martinez - keep
Mavrapanos - keep
Guendouzi - keep
Kolasinac - sell
Xhaka - sell
Asano - sell
Smith-Rowe - keep
Nketiah - keep
Saka - loan
Amaechi - loan
Willock - keep

Pretty much agree with all of yours with a few amendments. This team is full of average players with a weak mentality taking up places that could go to players with more fight. I'd even sacrifice a bit of technical ability for a few players who were more dogged and could manage games better. Not saying we should turn into a team of cloggers, but we badly lack leaders and players who can dig us out of a hole.

 

I must reiterate that I don't think this season has been a disaster by any stretch. There have been moments of positivity. But the overall feeling is that we could have done so much more and it feels like a huge opportunity wasted. Perhaps that in itself shows that we do have the potential to do better and with time and investment, we can actually progress. It just needs to happen now.

 

I think expectations started to change after that early "flukey" unbeaten run we had..

At start of the season not sure I would expected to be pole position for top 4 with a few games to go and European final..

But please cut ties with ozil do not want him to be wearing an arsenal shirt again.. but not sure who would want him

 

That was one of the most misleading unbeaten runs in history. In reality, we were pretty terrible during a lot of those games and had huge slices of luck. Anyone that says otherwise is kidding themselves. I don't believe we are as bad as the last half of the season made us look, but we are certainly not champion material. I agree about Ozil.

 

I'd sell one of lacazette or aubameyang (I like both btw) but these 2 are our only valuable assets sell one sign a propa winger and I think we are on the up

 

In terms of what I expected pre-season, I would agree. But it was a disastrous end to the season, as we were in pole position for a CL spot and blew an easy run-in. We then had another chance in the Europa final to win a trophy and get CL football, yet put in a horrendous showing.

We are not miles off as it stands, and with Chelsea potentially having a transfer embargo and United having more money than sense (as well as a manager that I am not totally convinced by), we still have a shot next season for top 4. But we need to invest wisely with a frugal transfer budget and we need everything to go right from here on in. No time for dud signings or players not pulling their weight.

 

This is mine:

Bellerin - keep
Elneny - sell
Sokratis - keep
Koscielny - sell
Mkhitaryan - keep
Lacazette - keep
Ozil - sell
Torreira - keep
Lichtsteiner - don't renew contract
Ospina - sell
Aubameyang - keep
Maitland-Niles - keep
Holding - keep
Iwobi - sell
Monreal - don't renew contract
Leno - keep
Mustafi - sell
Chambers - keep
Jenkinson - sell
Martinez - keep
Mavrapanos - loan
Guendouzi - keep
Kolasinac - keep
Xhaka - sell/keep - depending on replacements.
Asano - sell
Smith-Rowe - keep
Nketiah - keep
Saka - loan
Amaechi - keep
Willock - keep


Kolasinac has actually been one of our better performers this Season . He is inconsistent though. Defintely keep.
Iwobi - I am unconvinced by. For me he is a mid tabel Club level player.

I was thinking actually how much better we could be just with Bellerin and Holding back in the side plus adding R.Nelson (surely a better option on the wings than Iwobi)

 

The club announces released players list:

https://www.arsenal.com/news/club-announces-released-players-list

Cohen Bramall, Petr Cech, Charlie Gilmour, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Julio Pleguezuelo, Aaron Ramsey, Danny Welbeck

Surprised to see Jenkinson and Monreal not there.

There were reports in January that we activated a one-year extension in Monreal's contract so that he stays until 2020. Not sure why the club didn't announce this, though.
Jenkinson's contract must be until 2020 too, as Transfermarkt said his contract ran out this Summer, yet conflicting reports said we gave him 5 year deal in 2015. To this day, I don't know why we did this.

Not too keen on an ageing Monreal, who will be 34 next season, staying when he has already lost his pace.

Will be interesting to see who we sell.

 

I cannot believe Carl jenkinson will still be an arsenal player for yet another season.

 

Maybe he has impressed in training?

And to be fair Bellerin. and AMN are still ahead of him.

 

I think it's more that we can't shift him due to the fact we gave him a 5-year contract on around £50k per week in 2015. He isn't Premier League standard, so no club in this division would be silly enough to offer him that sort of money.

Which means he is the level below. And there's no chance in hell a Championship club will pay him the money we're giving him.

We will have to bite the bullet and accept he will probably be seeing out his final year with us.

 

I like Jenkinson as a bloke, but you can't help thinking that he's just a pub player from the terraces who's somehow living out a fantasy by playing for the club he supports