Arsenal have splashed the cash again this summer in a bid to break back into the Premier League's top-four - but the onus is now on the Gunners technical director Edu to offload some of the Londoners' deadwood.
Alongside Mikel Arteta, the Brazilian has already overseen some astute work in the transfer market. Arsenal have shelled out big money to bring Gabriel Jesus to the club, while £34million new boy Fabio Vieira will boost Arteta's options in midfield.
Arsenal are still expected to bring in more fresh faces in the coming weeks, but after missing out on the riches of the Champions League, the Gunners do not have an endless pit of money to delve into this summer; meaning it's crucial that Edu finds a way to get some fringe players off the books in the coming weeks.
Unfortunately, Edu is discovering that getting rid of some players is seemingly easier said than done. Here, Mirror Football takes a look at five players Arsenal are struggling to find suitors for right now...
Bernd Leno
Leno has been one of the most likely candidates to leave Arsenal ever since he was relegated to the bench swiftly after Aaron Ramsdale's £30million arrival last summer. However, the German shot-stopper is currently no closer to kickstarting his career away from the Emirates.
A host of clubs have been linked with the ex-Bayer Leverkusen man, who has racked up 125 appearances for the Gunners since he signed for the club back in 2018. But the 30-year-old has reported for pre-season training back at London Colney and will remain an Arsenal player unless any of his suitors firm up their interest.
Newly-promoted Fulham are reportedly been locked in talks over a deal for the German international for weeks, while Leno's agent has also hinted that his client has interest from other clubs around Europe. Both parties would benefit from a speedy resolution to the current stalemate, with Arsenal hoping to cash in before Leno's deal expires next summer.
Hector Bellerin
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After impressing on loan at Real Betis last year, Bellerin's permanent exit from the Emirates this summer should have been relatively straightforward.
Recent reports have claimed that Bellerin is desperate to return to Spain, but Betis simply cannot afford to strike a permanent deal with the Gunners for the Spaniard - leaving the 27-year-old in limbo. A host of clubs from across Europe have since been credited with an interest in Bellerin, including Atletico Madrid, Lazio and Roma.
Bellerin is another player who has just over 12 months remaining on his current deal, so the Gunners will be trying to find a resolution before the transfer window slams shut to try and rake in some sort of fee for the wantaway right-back.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles
Maitland-Niles also spent a portion of last season away from north London, but his uninspiring six-month loan stint with AS Roma has hardly endeared him to any potential suitors.
The 24-year-old utility man made just a handful of appearances for Jose Mourinho's side, who unsurprisingly, are not interested in pursuing a permanent deal for the midfielder. Maitland-Niles has caught the eye of Premier League new boy's Nottingham Forest, but a recent report from football.london hinted that Forest could struggle to afford the player's wages.
If Arsenal have designs on supplementing their summer transfer budget with a sizeable fee for Maitland-Niles, then they could be left disappointed unless fresh interest emerges in the coming weeks.
Lucas Torreira
Much like Bellerin, Torreira was seemingly poised to land a permanent move after impressing on loan at Fiorentina last summer.
However, the Italian outfit failed to trigger a £12.5m option to make the Uruguayan's switch a permanent one - leaving both Torreira and the Gunners furious. The midfielder's future is now uncertain, with Torreira himself admitting last month that there is "no chance" he will stay at Arsenal for the 2022/23 campaign.
Although there have been rumblings of other clubs in Europe taking an interest in Torreira, it remains to be seen if anybody will meet the Gunners' valuation - and that could mean the Londoners will have to to drop their asking price in order to recoup some of the £26m sum they shelled out to sign Torreira back in 2018.
Nicolas Pepe
Offloading Pepe could be Edu's biggest task of all this summer. The Ivorian winger has been an unmitigated disaster pretty much from the second he arrived at the Emirates in a club-record £72m deal from Lille.
The 27-year-old has bagged just 27 goals in over 100 games since joining the Londoners and has become a peripheral figure under Arteta. Unsurprisingly, Arsenal are finding it hard to entice anybody into rolling the dice on Pepe.
According to PA, via The Sun, the Gunners are even willing to take a huge hit on winger and cut their losses for £25m - but Edu faces a major challenge to even recoup that for the Gunners outcast, whose £140,000-a-week wages are also believed to be a major deterrent to any potential suitors.
