Morning all. Although it might be afternoon by the time I hit publish.

I sit hear having watched an entirely predictable first 10 minutes from England as Pakistan put on a quick fire 30. That little 10 minute session makes a big difference.

But that’s enough about cricket.

The news coming out of Arsenal today is that we need to be prepared for some popular faces to leave Arsenal to fund the rebuild.

The most popular, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is likely to stay. But who could be gone?

Rob Holding

The young Englishman isn’t really that young anymore. He turns 25 in September.

A lot of fans rate him. But he has yet to start 1 Premier League games in a single season.

With the arrivals of Pablo Mari and William Saliba, and the new contract for David Luiz, Holding will be at best 4th choice centre back next season.

We have been heavily linked with Lille’s Gabriel this summer. If we do buy another central defender, Holding will be relegated to 5th.

Holding will never be good enough to be a first team regular for Arsenal. We’d be best cashing in for £20m and reinvesting that on someone like Gabriel who is younger, better, and still improving.

Lucas Torreira

We were all excited about Lucas Torreira when he signed in a couple of years ago, but he has not quite lived up to what we wanted.

He failed to fully nail down a spot under Unai Emery and has barely had a sniff under Mikel Arteta.

Torreira is a very good player, and it is tough to work out just why it has not worked out for him at Arsenal.

Like replacing Holding with Gabriel, selling Torreira and buying Thomas Partey would still Arsenal cashing in on a squad player and signing a starter.

Matteo Guendouzi

In years to come, Arsenal fans are going to look back and either say “we let go a world class midfielder there” or “I’m glad we cashed in when we could”.

There is no doubting Guendouzi’s talent. His attitude is the problem. And it isn’t just what happened at Brighton.

He often undermined Unai Emery by mocking his accent. He showed zero respect for Freddie a Ljungberg. He fell out with Mikel Arteta and the coaching staff in Dubai.

He is clearly immature, despite his mature performances on the pitch. It cost him an FA Cup medal.

Compare that to Dani Ceballos who has overcome a tough transition and has become a key player for Arsenal.

Cash raised from selling Guendouzi and Torreira would finance the dead for Ceballos and Partey.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles

Too little too late from Ainsley it feels.

6 months ago he looked like he had played his last game for the club.

Since the suspension of football was lifted, he has knuckled down and started the FA Cup final.

But he is still a man struggling for an identity.

He isn’t good enough in defence to play right back. He has shown little in the centre of the park to show he deserves a place there.

We’re Arsenal to continue with 3 at the back, he would be starting right wing back ahead of Hector Bellerin. But Arteta will return to 4 at the back next season.

Having signed Cedric for nothing, cashing in on Ainsley Maitland-Niles will be pure profit.

He is a player that would not need to be replaced in the Arsenal squad. Funds raised on him could immediately go to improving elsewhere.

Alexandre Lacazette

With just 10 league goals this season, it has been a tough one for the Frenchman.

Once Aubameyang’s long term future at Arsenal is confirmed, Lacazette could find himself being sold.

With Bukayo Saka set to make the left wing his own, backed up by the incoming Willian, Aubameyang will play upfront next season.

That would leave Lacazette, Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Martinelli backing him up.

It makes little sense on having Lacazette sitting on the bench when his transfer fee and wages can be invested better elsewhere.

Aubameyang upfront backed up by Nketiah and Gabriel is not much weaker. And the funds from Lacazette could go towards buying someone like Coutinho.

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So playing Football Manager, what can Arsenal expect from selling the 5? Over £100m?

Holding (£15-20m), Torreira (£20-25m), Maitland-Niles (£15-20m), Guendouzi (£30-40m) & Lacazette (£30-35m).

That could be £110-140m raised. And who would actually be missed?

And then let’s say we go and sign Gabriel, Partey, Coutinho and Willian, as well extend Ceballos’s contract further. That is then a Champions League chasing squad.

Plenty to think about whilst England do their best to give us hope before collapsing in this run chase.

Keenos

Former Head of Recruitment Sven Mislintat has previously labelled its scouting “bloated” and the club “dysfunctional” and structure “an absolute mess”

Mislintat left Arsenal in February 2019. A key reason why he left is due to a row with Raul Sanllehi over Arsenal’s scouting department.

According to the Independent, Mislintat felt that Arsenal’s scouting department was too bloated and attempted to trim it down but was blocked from doing so by Sanllehi.

A lot of fuss has been made of Arsenal making 55 employees redundant. There are explanations behind every single redundancy.

The scouting department has been under review ever since Mislintat shared his view with Sanllehi. Just last summer, Arsenal trimmed the scouting department.

Following the appointment of Edu as technical director, Arsenal have continued to monitor the situation and decided to make further scouts redundant, including Head of International Recruitment Francis Cagigao.

In recent years, there has been a move away from “traditional scouting”.

Under Arsene Wenger, the scouting department was huge, with scouts in every corner of the globe.

It set Arsenal apart from other Premier League clubs. But that was over 20-years ago.

These days scouting is much more data driven.

Clubs pay big money (or in Arsenal’s case own) for data on footballers.

The stuff we see on Opts or Understat, clubs have access to much more.

In modern recruitment, clubs tend to be recommended players by local independent scouts who are not on the payroll. These scouts make commission if the player they recommended is signed.

Clubs then run the player through their data programmes, and analyse video footage of them.

Based on the opinion of their analysis, clubs then decide whether to send a scout out to watch said player or to not bother.

Back before the era of data and technology, clubs would be unable to rule out players without seeing them.

The technology allows for clubs to work in a more structured manner, focusing on players who have the data to back up the recommendation. No longer do clubs have to spend money on sending a scout out to the middle of nowhere based on a recommendation.

A mixture between the new technology and data meant that Arsenal’s huge scouting network had become bloated and hard to control.

It seems Edu agrees with Mislintat’s viewpoint and this has led to Arsenal to further trim down the scouting department.

Moving forward, Arsenal will act on recommendations of independent scouts and be paying a commission rather than a salary. In turn this saves the club money and allows the club to operate with a smaller, more manageable scouting department.

Arsenal making 55 people redundant has made a lot of people angry. But the scouting department has been bloated and dysfunctional for some time.

It was likely Arsenal would have culled the scouting department even if Covid19 did not happen.

Keenos