After a busy summer of incomings thus far, it appears that Arsenal are about to accelerate some much-needed player sales to create space in the first-team squad for more signings.
Following the arrivals of Marquinhos, Fabio Vieira, Matt Turner, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko, coupled with the returns of several loanees such as William Saliba, Hector Bellerin, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Lucas Torreira, the Gunners currently have 33 senior players heading into the new season.
With Premier League and Europa League squad registration rules to come into effect at the beginning of September, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and technical director Edu must move players on otherwise, they risk repeating a situation where some high-profile names are left out.
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To their credit, the Gunners pair are well aware of the situation, and the plan is to trim down the size of the first-team squad - ideally, so that Arteta has 22 outfield players and three goalkeepers to cope with the added demand of being back in European competition next season.
"We have a large squad, so we have to make some decisions as well on the players that we're not going to be using consistently and be fair and straight with them, and that's a process that is going to start very soon as well," the Spaniard explained. "We have to (offload). We have a big squad, and now we have to make things happen."
"No (It's not easy), but it's a part of our job to try to create some opportunities for the players," Edu said. "I think the most important thing is to make the player understand why he is here or why he needs to go, and then we have to create some possibilities with the player's agents and try to find the best solution possible for the player.
"As soon as you give them a clear idea of what you want to do, it helps the situation. It's a challenge because you have to find clubs, situations and loans. But again, if you can be direct to the player in a very respectful way, that helps a little bit to make the best decision."
Outside of Alexandre Lacazette being released at the end of his contract plus Matteo Guendouzi and Konstantinos Mavropanos joining Marseille and Stuttgart respectively on permanent deals after successful loan spells, there haven't been any high-profile exits at the Emirates Stadium this summer.
But that could be about to change very soon as reports have suggested that Nuno Tavares is on course to join Atalanta on a season-long loan deal, and there is interest from Fenerbahce as well as Serie A outfit Hellas Verona in signing defender Pablo Mari.
Furthermore, the Evening Standard have claimed that Arsenal are 'progressing' in negotiations with Fulham over the sale of Bernd Leno after dropping their asking price to around £8m. Should this transfer be completed before the new Premier League campaign gets underway, it could affect Aaron Ramsdale.
Having worn no.32 during his first season at the club after his £24m arrival from Sheffield United, the likely departure of Leno means the no.1 shirt - the ideal squad number for a first-choice goalkeeper - will become vacant, thus further cementing this status as Arteta's go-to guy in between the sticks.
With that said, it's not a guarantee that England international will make the request as he did wear no.12 during his first spell at Bramall Lane and during his time at Bournemouth. Furthermore, he had the no.13 for the national team at last summer's European Championships, so he may not be too bothered about making the change.
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