Arsenal have spent over £200 million on new players this summer, but they expect to recoup part of that money through player sales and sell-on clauses before Friday’s transfer deadline.
The upcoming signings of Folarin Balogun and Kieran Tierney, as well as the sell-on clause for Matteo Guendouzi, will bring in significant revenue for Arsenal.
The sale of Balogun to Monaco for £40 million marks a club record for the Gunners. Tierney is taking a season-long loan to Real Sociedad after the Spanish club pulled off a coup by beating out Newcastle, Celtic, and Aston Villa.
Meanwhile, Lazio are close to completing a trade for Guendouzi after agreeing to pay Marseille €18m (£15.45m) for the France international’s services. Marseille owes Arsenal £2.3m (or 15% of any deal) because of a sell-on clause.
West Ham’s £20 million purchase of Konstantinos Mavropanos from Stuttgart has already reaped almost £2 million in profits for Arsenal. An additional 10% sell-on clause was inserted in the transaction when the Gunners transferred Mavropanos to the Germans a year ago for under £3m.
While Arsenal’s finances will improve thanks to the sale of Balogun and the salary savings from Tierney, the club is unlikely to re-enter the market unless another player leaves or they discover a bargain on a right winger to back up Bakayo Saka.
Even though Chelsea had interest in the U.S. national team player, they were outbid by Arsenal for Balogun. Balogun hopes to continue his stellar play from his loan stint with Reims last season, when he scored 21 goals in Ligue 1.
Eddie Nketiah was reported to have left Saturday’s match with Fulham with an injury, but Arsenal has said he is fine to play. After a thrilling match at the Emirates, the Premier League match ended in a tie thanks to Joao Palhinha’s late equalizer for the visitors.
Who should Arsenal cut loose, in your opinion?
Even though Mikel Arteta and Matteo Guendouzi didn’t hit it off, Arteta’s sell-on clause for Guendouzi is still a great perk. The new Gunners manager deployed Guendouzi in the middle of the field during his first few months in command after taking over from Unai Emery in December 2019.
After an argument with Neal Maupay during Brighton’s 2-1 win over Arteta’s team in June 2020, Guendouzi never played for Arsenal again. The Frenchman spent the rest of that year on loan with Hertha Berlin before signing with Marseille the following July.
“It’s true that I didn’t have the best relationship with him,” Guendouzi said last year. In addition to that, I always tried my hardest in practice and competition. I’ve had some recent successful bouts with him.
He had other players in mind, and I can understand why. After that, I made the decision to depart as well since, being so young, I wanted to keep developing my skills on the field. When you’re young, having fun is paramount.
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