Arsenal's business in the January transfer window may have foreshadowed what's to come this summer, particularly with regard to players leaving the club.
At the beginning of the year, in a bid to aid the Gunners' pursuit of a first Premier League trophy in almost two decades, Mikel Arteta bolstered his senior squad with three signings. Leandro Trossard arrived from Brighton & Hove Albion, Jakub Kiwior was recruited from Spezia in Italy and Jorginho made the switch from London rivals Chelsea.
This triple deal took the club's spending to £54m overall in the winter window and they all played their part in helping Arsenal qualify for the Champions League for the first time since 2017 - even if the ultimate goal of being crowned Premier League champions slipped through their fingers.
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But, perhaps, what was even more significant about the signings were the shirt numbers allocated as Trossard was unveiled with the number 19, Kiwior was handed the number 15 and Jorginho, who wore number 5 for Chelsea and usually wears number 8 for the Italy national team - had number 20 on the back of his top.
Interestingly, the previous owners of all three shirt numbers are Nicolas Pepe, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Nuno Tavares. Whilst they were not at the club at the time of the aforementioned signings, they are technically still under contract at the Emirates Stadium and that sets up a rather unique scenario ahead of the summer transfer window.
Of course, in Maitland-Niles' case, he's already revealed that he is to leave Arsenal on a permanent basis when his contract expires at the end of the month as the option to extend his stay by a further year hasn't been activated.
"It's been a great journey but it has come to an end now (at Arsenal)," he told The Athletic. "It's time for a fresh start and to find a new home. I'm looking forward to that but, at the same time, my head’s not quite there yet and it’s all about what’s happening now with Southampton.
"When the time gets closer towards the end of the season, I'll have something else to think about. But right now, I’m just focused on football and the task at hand. Southampton is a great club to be at and progress and get some minutes under my belt. Of course, if they were to make an offer, I’ll be more than happy to stay."
Whereas for Pepe and Tavares, not only would it appear they've not done enough to earn permanent transfers following loan spells with Nice and Marseille respectively, they are set to return to Arsenal to find their shirt numbers have been taken which might be the clearest indication as to when they were put up for sale.
Sure, new shirt numbers can be allocated if they are to be part of Arteta's plans for next season. Although that seems unlikely with the Gunners well-stocked for options out wide and tipped to sign a replacement at left-back should Kieran Tierney seal a switch to Newcastle United or Aston Villa.
It's understood that Arsenal would like to generate a fee for Pepe before his contract expires next summer but plans have been made to terminate his deal if needs be whilst football.london understands Tavares has a preference to stay in England and coincidentally has been linked with a move to West Ham United.
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