David Ornstein Lists Arsenal Players Fans Should Keep “Close Eye” On Amid Possible Exits

By The Editor
on 25th January 2024

David Ornstein sums up Arsenal’s transfer strategy…

Arsenal are set for a busy transfer window in the summer as Mikel Arteta looks to evolve the squad further and it might include some notable departures too, The Athletic’s David Ornstein reports.

As the January window draws to a close, fans are now starting to accept that the club weren’t bluffing when they warned of a quiet period in north London.

However, with revenues soaring at the club this season following our return to Europe’s premier club competition, there are several obvious positions Arteta will want to strengthen.

The latest Deloitte Football Money League is in! Liverpool, Man Utd and Man City have all slipped down the rankings while new leaders Real Madrid, PSG and Barcelona are all on the rise 💰📉 pic.twitter.com/xujQk8QguJ

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) January 25, 2024

A central striker will be top of that list, according to Ornstein, who feels the club will “attack” the market and are currently eyeing their targets.

As exciting as that may seem, we’ve seen that the hierarchy at the club are also keen on balancing the books with outgoings – especially for players who aren’t part of the manager’s plans.

“In the summer, I really do think Arsenal are going to attack the market again,” Ornstein told Sky Sports,

“We could well see a striker come in, they’ll be really looking at the options. The excitement around Arsenal transfers probably needs to be put on hold for a few months.

“We know they like players like Hato at Ajax, but he can’t move before turning 18 – he turned 18 in March. Ajax are trying to renew his contract.

“There will probably need to be some outs as well, so we need to keep a close eye on the likes of Thomas Partey, Jorginho, Emile Smith Rowe etc going forward…Eddie Nketiah.”

Arsenal had a net spend of around £150million last summer which looks to have been our limit for the season – though the club may have thought they would’ve done better in terms of outgoings.

Kieran Tierney was on the market and with many years remaining on his contract, the fact that we could only fetch a loan for him probably hindered any further business we planned to do.

I suspect that will change next summer given the names the club will likely listen to offers for – some of whom Ornstein mentions above.