September 7, 2019 3:27 pm
Last season much was written about the age of Arsenal’s squad.
At 26-years and 5-months, Arsenal had the 7th oldest squad in the Premier League and the oldest squad in the top 6.
Over the summer, Raul Sanllehi oversaw a huge turnover of players, with the main aim being to reduce the wage bill whilst improving the squad.
Early estimates are that Arsenal’s wage bill has reduced by around £20m over the season. This was achieved with over £45m worth of wages going out the door, and their replacements costing around £25m in wages.
A secondary goal of Sanllehi would have been to reduce the age of the squad.
From 7th oldest last season, Arsenal now have the youngest squad in the league.
Prior to this summer, Arsenal’s transfer policy was to buy experienced professionals. Players who were at their peak, but also costly.
It saw the club sign a lot of players over 26-years-old. The likes of Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette.
This summer we saw a return to the transfer policy that made Arsene Wenger so successful.
David Luiz (32) aside, every player Arsenal was 24 or younger.
Nicolas Pepe (24), Dani Ceballos (23), Kieran Tierney (22), Gabrielle Martinelli (18) & William Saliba (18) all joined the club.
The club also promoted the likes of Joe Willock (20), Reiss Nelson (19) and Emile Smith Rowe to the 1st team squad.
Alongside youngsters coming in, Arsenal saw a whole host of players aged over 30 leave the club in the summer.
Pete Cech, Laurent Koscielny, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Stephan Lichtsteiner, David Ospina and Nacho Monreal all left over the summer. All aged over 30.
That leaves the club with just 4 players north of 30 – David Luiz, Sokratis, Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Alongside the over 30s, the likes of Danny Welbeck, Aaron Ramsey and Carl Jenkinson also left. All 3 were over Arsenal’s average age in 2018/19.
The club will be concerned that the 2 first choice centre backs are over 30, and it is something which will surely be addressed next summer.
Going from 7th oldest to youngest squad in the league in a single window shows just how good Sanllehi and his team did again over the summer.
3rd is on.
Keenos
https://twitter.com/shewore/status/1169675709687705600?s=21
Posted by keenosafc
Categories: Arsenal
Tags: Arsenal, Raul Sanllehi, She Wore, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon
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Good perspective, great post.
3rd is on? I think so too!
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By Stan The Man on September 7, 2019 at 9:11 pm
Manchester United squad has the youngest avg age not us. Take note.
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By lion on September 8, 2019 at 8:20 am