Arsenal's next move after signing Ezri Konsa is so obvious it hurts
Arsenal have agreed a £51million deal for Ezri Konsa to become their fifth permanent signing of the summer, but they must now turn their attention to selling players before the window closes.
The Gunners have brought in Piero Hincapié (making his loan permanent), Illan Meslier, Christos Tzolis and Bruno Guimarães for a reported £143.5m with the impending arrival of Konsa set to bring that to almost £200m.
It's been a busy transfer period for Mikel Arteta's side once again, but one of their main priorities this summer was ridding the squad of deadwood and while four players have been sold, they have a lot more work to do on that front so their next move after completing the deal for Konsa must be selling players.
🚨👋🏼 Mikel Arteta on Arsenal planning sales: “It’s a really, really tough moment. We need to face that reality”.
“We all know everything has a start and an end. We need to make difficult decisions”. pic.twitter.com/Di5pktiQpd
Of the four players Arsenal have already sold this summer, two of them were due to clauses in loan moves last season. Karl Hein and Jakub Kiwior made their respective moves to Werder Bremen and Porto permanent while Leandro Trossard departed for Beşiktaş ahead of Christian Nørgaard joining Everton.
The sale of that quartet has brought in a reported £39.6m with Kiwior the most profitable departure, having left for just under £19m, yet there are still a number of unwanted players the Gunners need to ship off before the window closes in 10 days.
Gabriel Jesus, Fábio Vieira and Reiss Nelson are all facing exits from the Emirates Stadium while Gabriel Martinelli and Ethan Nwaneri could be available for the right price, but the latter is expected to only leave on loan.
Without sanctioning sales of the aformentioned trio, the North Londoners face another year of paying the wages of players who are likely to see little involvement throughout the season, and that is the last thing they want.
Arsenal have never been well known for selling players with most of their representatives spending the best years of their career in North London before moving on. Their club-record sale still stands at £35m for both Folarin Balogun and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who left for Monaco in 2023 and Liverpool in 2017 respectively.
Konsa isn't expected to be the final incoming for the Gunners either with the hunt for a left winger continuing in the final week or so. Kenan Yıldız is being explored as an option, but Juventus are reluctant to sell and would likely charge a very high fee if they are to agree a deal.
If Arsenal want to get one more big deal over the line after Konsa, they have to sanction sales beforehand. For too long, the club have allowed players leave for next to nothing or on free transfers and it's now time for them to get some money back for their investments. Sales have to be a priority for the Gunners now.
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