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Daniel Childs & Tom Canton

Marina Granovskaia given Chelsea's own Aubameyang transfer blueprint after crucial Arsenal call

Although I do it through gritted teeth, there is something admirable about the way Arsenal have cut their losses in the January transfer window.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's deadline day move to Barcelona stands out as the most prominent given his dramatic fallout with Mikel Arteta and subsequent exclusion from the first-team squad.

It feels pretty ironic that four years since his original £56m move from Borussia Dortmund which helped Chelsea secure Olivier Giroud, the Gabon forward leaves without much love.

For all their supporters may grumble at no signings, the sales of players Arteta did not want might prove to be more culturally significant in the long-term.

The recent sales for the likes of Aubameyang, Sead Kolasinac and Callum Chambers followed an even more brutal summer of cuts with Joe Willock, Willian and David Luiz leaving permanently.

Pablo Mari, Reiss Nelson, Matteo Guendouzi, Lucas Torreira and Hector Bellerin all left on loan with most unlikely to return in a significant way.

Arsenal's inability to replace their unwanted players is a different matter but the act of cutting so swiftly has given their head coach Arteta more control over moulding his own squad – something Chelsea supporters would like to see Tuchel given.

"There is no doubt that Mikel Arteta is ruling this Arsenal squad with an iron fist-esque approach." Tom Canton, writer and presenter for The Arsenal Way explains.

"The exits of Mesut Ozil, Matteo Guendouzi and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have given a “My way or the highway” edge to his management.

"So far, things have progressed competitively with the club in a top-four race for the first time since Unai Emery’s first season, which ultimately ended in failure. The young players have improved and there is a greater feeling of togetherness in the group.

"Only come May will there be enough evidence after more than two full seasons that the technique has worked. At present, there is enough pros and cons to mount an argument for either side."

Arteta's job at The Emirates is very different to that of Tuchel's at Stamford Bridge.

Former Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang joined Barcelona on deadline day. (Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

For Arsenal, it is about simply reclaiming a place in European football for next season in the hope of rebuilding back to a place in the Champions League like they used to attain so regularly.

Tuchel knows the expectations are sky high and unrelenting, winning the Premier League title will become his main objective after remarkably capturing the club's second Champions League crown in 2021.

Though to do that there is a sense he needs a level of squad renovation Arteta has enjoyed. Starting to filter out figures deemed no longer good enough to fulfil his high demands.

With only one major signing under him in Romelu Lukaku, this very much is still a squad assembled under six different coaches since 2012. And there is frustration with director Marina Granovskaia over the stubborn persistence to keep ahold of fringe players as their value lessens rapidly.

Thomas Tuchel will be hoping for a much busier summer window after no January arrivals. (Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)

"The issue with some of the players we have on the squad is that we clearly would rather not have them, but we’ve invested in them and we’re unwilling to just write that investment off." Dmitry Mogilevsky, a Chelsea season ticket holder and blogger tells CareFreeChelsea.

"It’s called a sunk cost fallacy, the desire to continue to persist with something we’ve already invested in even when it's clearly not worth it. We’re unwilling to let these players go hoping we might recoup the investment.

"They take up wages, squad places and minutes from better players and prevent us from getting quality replacements in."

This was certainly a limitation in the summer which meant a number of talented academy products became the most valuable assets for Chelsea to sell, rather than older players who had no future at the club.

"We failed to sign a left-back this window because we already have five on the roster, but four of these have no future at the club.

"We’ve had academy graduates leave due to not seeing a pathway to the first team because we give cup minutes to the likes of Barkley instead. The hindrance these players have on long term squad planning is the real cost for keeping them around this long."

Thomas Tuchel will be hoping to see a flurry of smart investment in the summer with deals for players that can begin to form the spine of a title-winning team.

But the art of knowing when to sell unwanted assets is as vital as investing in new ones.

Make sure you have subscribed to CareFreeChelsea on YouTube! The Fan Brands team along with plenty of your football.london favourites will be producing daily Chelsea content for you to enjoy including match reactions, podcasts, football fun and interviews. You can follow Daniel Childs from the CareFreeChelsea team to keep up to date with his work. If you enjoyed reading this then give my other articles a read below.

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