Cedric Soares and Mohamed Elneny have strong potential to leave Arsenal this winter as football.london explores how this would affect the club’s capacity to spend.
Cedric Soares and Mohamed Elneny could leave Arsenal during the January transfer window. Both players have interest from Turkey with the former also drawing interest from Spain, football.london understands.
Arsenal know that to buy players during the winter window they are going to have to sell. This is not due to a lack of spending power, but instead a restriction on financial freedom due to working within the confines of the Profit and Sustainability Regulations PSR.
The recent announcement that Everton had been charged for a second time this season and Nottingham Forest also face a charge has brought the reality of the situation to everyone. For the Gunners to be able to do business, they would need to effectively transfer one of their more sellable assets.
Eddie Nketiah, Reiss Nelson, Emile Smith Rowe and Aaron Ramsdale are all in this category with minutes limited and the scope of interest for further signings in their positions in the future, the club would be open to reasonable offers for the quartet.
Their homegrown status, healthy contract length and ages mean that any club aiming to sign one would need to stump up a significant fee. Ramsdale only renewed in the summer but the arrival of David Raya has dramatically changed his outlook on his time with the club and future plans.
Meanwhile, the trio of Hale End graduates remain far from being regular starters. So far however nothing in the way of any official offers have arrived to make Arsenal consider a sale with less than half of the January window to go.
The Toffees are appealing a ten-point deduction from their first charge and Arsenal will not want to risk similar punishments by spending outside of their restrictions.
Arsenal can however buy players this window but will need to sell first. By bringing in money from player sales, this will open up the ability to sign players and still work within the confines of the regulations.
However, both Cedric and Elneny’s departure are unlikely to make much of a difference. With six months remaining on both their deals there is an expectation that there will be little-to-no chance of a transfer fee for either player.
Neither have started a league game for the club this season and Elneny has experienced further injuries. Over the age of 30, there is negligible resell value for buyers and it is unlikely anything more than a short-term deal will be signed when they move on.
