Arsenal could be set for a mass exodus during this summer's transfer window as Mikel Arteta looks to raise funds for a number of incomings.
According to The Times, midfielder Granit Xhaka could leave at the end of the current campaign, with the north London outfit also likely to try and sell the likes of Kieran Tierney, Emile Smith Rowe, Folarin Balogun, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Nuno Tavares, Rob Holding, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Cedric Soares. Maitland-Niles' contract at the Emirates Stadium is set to expire this summer whilst the other eight players have a combined value of €130 million (£113 million), as per CIES Football Observatory.
Arteta has made it no secret of his willingness to be ruthless when it comes to refreshing his squad, offloading former captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in January 2022 and the club's previous record signing Mesut Ozil 12 months prior. Last week, the Spaniard insisted that his side are far from the finished article, clearly holding his young squad to very high standards.
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"We are still very far (from where I want)", he said when asked if the Gunners had already reached their ceiling. "We can be much, much, much better at a lot of things still. Huge margins.
"We can be much better in our build-up, attacking man-to-man situations, attacking open spaces, defending deep, set pieces, we have huge margins to (make up) in terms of game management... we can be more ruthless to kill games. There are a lot of things that we have to seek for improvement because we don't have a single player who has reached his peak. Not one.
"And when that happens we as coaches have to be curious to understand: what can we do to get them better?" The Arsenal boss is keen to bolster his midfield options at the end of the current campaign, football.london understands.
West Ham United captain Declan Rice remains his priority in this department, with a defender also on the agenda when it comes to recruitment. Crystal Palace's Marc Guehi is one name on the defensive shortlist, football.london understands whilst Bayer Leverkusen centre-half Edmond Tapsoba has also been looked at.
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