Over the weekend we published our annual Arsenal – State of the Squad report. What was very clear and obvious is we needed players to depart to create the space for new players to come in.
As it stood on Saturday, and following David Raya’s acquisition, we had 26 senior players. One more than you can register with the Premier League.
Whilst we could have bought before we sold, this practice would leave us in a poor position when negotiating sales. The line coming from the club all summer was that players needed to depart before replacements come in. And this week we will begin seeing those departures.
Albert Sambi Lokonga‘s loan move to Sevilla was confirmed yesterday. The Spanish side are reportedly paying 100% of his wages. it is not yet clear whether Arsenal will receive a loan fee.
The deal contains a €12million buy option, with Arsenal also getting 25% of any future sale if the buy option is activated.
In the last 18 months, Lokonga’s stock has plummeted from bright, young European talent to struggling on loan at Crystal Palace and having an injury his season at Luton.
It does feel a little surprising that the deal is not permanent, for a bigger fee, taking into account how he performed for Luton Town when fit. But the you have to remember he was playing for Luton.
Lokonga turns 25 soon, so no longer has the “prospect” tag, and in 12 months will have just a year left on his contract.
Whilst we are not receiving a fee for him this summer, if the deal goes through next than we will be showing a small profit on what we have not yet amortised – Lokonga’s book value is around £7m, and the fee equates to around £10m.
The second who is out of the door is Nuno Tavares. The Portuguese left back is heading out on loan to Lazio with a mandatory buy clause of €9million. Like Lokonga, expect a sizeable sell-on clause to also be inserted.
Income from both loan deals turning permanent will hit the accounts in 2025. What is clear is that we are more interested in getting them out of the club, freeing up squad players, and receiving money later down the loan then getting a quick influx of cash this summer.
It never worked out at Arsenal for the pair, and the moves highlight why calls for us to “unearth gems like Brighton” does not work.
Every summer Brighton sign 8 or 10 Lokonga’s and Tavares’. They then give them ALL plenty of game time, with those not good enough disappearing into oblivion and those that show signs allowed to work through any issues and given the game time needed to improve.
Title chasing teams like Arsenal, Manchester City or Liverpool can not afford to do this. The pressure is much higher. As is what is at stake. Brighton only care about finishing mid-table, and developing players to sell on. We are chasing the title.
I am sure if Lokonga or Tavares had have joined Brighton, they would have progressed further in their career. And this would all be down to game time. But they also would have made the mistakes they made at Arsenal. And more of them. Whlst Brighton can afford to work through this, top teams can not.
The pair of the door means we are now down to a 24 man squad. It is only space fr one new registered player so expect more out of the door! And we are not short on players that could be heading for the exit:
Kieran Tierney
Thomas Partey
Aaron Ramsdale
Emile Smith Rowe
Eddie Nketiah
Reiss Nelson
Who departs next mainly depends on who is coming in. And those above will only be sold if a replacement is already lined up:
Ramsdale for a new number 2
Partey for a new midfielder
Smith Rowe for a new winger / forward
Nketiah for a new forward / winger
Nelson and Tierney are the only ones above that do not require replacing. They are probably also the two hardest to sell considering injuries / stagnation.
There is also talk about Roberto Calafiori being Arsenal’s first major new signing. I am still not clear whether he would be coming in to replace Jakub Kiwior, or if he will be our first choice left back next season.
On the former, we either believe Calafiori is a huge upgrade on Kiwior, or the Pole has expressed his intention to depart for first team football. If it is the late ri would be surprised as we have Jurrien Timber, Olexsandr Zinchenko and Takehiro Tomiyasu as options at left back.
It is a bit of a headache how Arteta would plan to fit them all in, especially when Ben White looks to have wrapped up right back. But we should not be scared of competition.
Signing Calafiori would give us the option of going: White Saliba Gabriel Zinchenko, with the Ukranian played inverted, or Timber Saliba Gabriel Calafiori, with the Dutchmen playing inverted and Calafiori playing Ben White’s role, but on the left hand side.
We would also retain the option of White, Kiwior, Calafiori, Timber and Tomiyasu as cover in central defence. And it is not too dissimilar in numbers and playing style of Manchester City:
Walker = White
Saliba = Stones
Dias = Gabriel
Gvardoil = Calafiori
Ake = Kiwior
Akanji = Tomiyasu
Lewis = Timber
The obvious missing one out of the above is Zinchenko. Maybe Arteta has plans to play him in that left hand sides 8, where Xhaka used to play?
Anyway, I have gone off course from Lokonga and Tavares leaving! I wish them both luck in the future careers.
Keenos
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 
Personally I think any club that sold Smith Rowe should have a team of mental health specialists brought in to assess the management staff as he is one of the best players to come out of Hale end. When he was playing him and saka were destroying teams.
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Smith Rowe is 24 soon and has a history of long term injuries. He reminds me of Darren Anderton – a lot of talent but is unable to stay fit. Cash in and move on.
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