Unai Emery has come under fire from all forms of YouTube channels as is par for the course, but perhaps the point that he needs to offload some of his staler squad components should resonate.
In an ideal world, you would freeze the front two and just press the reset button on the entirety of Arsenal Football Club.
However, given we’re trying to be somewhat logical, we’ll just stick to three.
Out: Shkodran Mustafi
Does anyone actually remember Mustafi’s three years with Everton?
You’d think if you’re to make the perceived step up to the next level – a side competing for actual honours occasionally – you’d have at least stood out at some point.
Mustafi both comes into the spotlight for glaring mistakes and is a serial offender fir off-the-ball stuff too. When Arsenal need leadership at the back, they look to some of their older pros, but this 26-year-old looks beyond help, and the sooner he’s out of the Arsenal team, the better for everyone.
In: Diego Godin
Let’s go back to leadership again for a minute. And let’s discuss the crux of this entire issue – investment. If both of these appear lacking, then there’s a real quick fix to this problem.
Godin is set to become a free agent now and should, in theory, have the world open to him. Godin has played under Diego Simeone for what feels like an age now, and Emery is familiar with him.
If at some point you begin to realise that overplaying in the final third will eventually leave you short-staffed when half of your midfielders repeatedly lose the ball, then perhaps the veteran stopper is exactly the kind of cynical backstop you require.
Out: Mesut Ozil
I am not suggesting for a minute that Mesut Ozil isn’t more naturally talented than any player Arsenal have had in the last ten years. But, I am suggesting that training all week, only to find yourself dropped from the squad suggests that his salary could be better-spent elsewhere.
£300,000 a week could probably get you one of Harry Kane’s legs, and that would be of more use than a Mesut Ozil with this attitude.
It’s become crystal clear that he isn’t valued by his manager, so that money needs to be freed up as the German international is now the wrong side of 30.
In: Houssem Aouar
Interest in the Frenchman is extremely high among Europe’s top clubs and for good reason. There may never be a midfielder quite like Andres Iniesta, but this 20-year-old does a seriously good impression.
A regular starter in the Lyon side, he may cost a fortune, but he sets you up for a decade unless Real Madrid come sniffing again.
He can occupy the spaces that Ozil worked in but will give more going the other way. He’s also less likely to throw a strop every two-to-three weeks.
Out: Alex Iwobi
If you’re getting rid of Ramsey because of associated failure, then Iwobi’s transformation from academy prospect to supposedly good enough for the first team needs to be examined.
He has yet to show in-game that he’s worth having around and while effort is cited as his key contribution (condescending in its own right), he doesn’t have end product and actually takes away from those free-flowing moves that have pacified the Arsenal faithful for a while.
It’s time to cut ties with a player who is only around because he’s both cheap and apparent proof that the underage investment is justified.
In: Anthony Martial
Alexis Sanchez, because of the investment and pills Manchester United had to swallow for that wasted money, will ultimately get his position back in that team going forward.
Martial, on his day, is world class. So, it only makes sense that he should be a prime target for Emery. He’s a proven goalscorer, proven in the Premier League and is that young element that the ethos of the club strives on.
The money won’t be scandalous as it seems, Mourinho could be back in the Madrid hot seat soon and they’ll drop their interest.
He won’t transform the fortunes of the club, but he will be a marked improvement on the headless Iwobi.
Jog over to PaddyPower.com now for all the latest football odds