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Arsenal plan to trim their squad even further in the summer.
January saw the club terminate the contracts of Mesut Ozil, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Shkodran Mbappé, whilst a number of players were allowed to leave on loan.
That helped to reduce the wage bill, but more cuts are needed as the club struggles to cope with the continued loss of income due to the pandemic, as well as the ned to repay a £120 million loan from the Bank of England.
At the same time, Mikel Arteta wants to raise funds to try and bring in more of the player he wants at the club.
Amongst those ear-marked for departure is Alexander Lacazette, who will be into the last 12 months of his contract at the end of June.
He has been linked with Atlético Madrid in the past, and Juventus may also be interested, but equally there is a possibility that he could return to France. Monaco a possible destination.
Another one likely to leave is midfielder Matteo Guendouzi, who is currently on loan with Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin. Although highly rated, he fell out with Arteta towards the end of last season, and there appears to be no way back for him at the Emirates.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.