could be set to sell a glut of players starting with backup goalkeeper Bernd Leno, after manager Mikel Arteta admitted the club ‘has to’ move some squad members on before the close of the transfer window on 1 September.
The Gunners have been very active in terms of incomings so far this summer, spending the most of any club in Europe to bring in Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko from , midfielder Fabio Vieira from FC Porto, goalkeeper from New England Revolution, and teenage winger Marquinhos from Sao Paolo.
Those transfers have totalled around £120m, and with the likes of Hector Bellerin, Lucas Torreira, William Saliba and Reiss Nelson having returned from loan spells abroad, the Gunners boast a whopping squad of 31 first-team players.
With Premier League rules limiting each club to a squad of 25 footballers, some must be moved on imminently, or Arsenal will be paying out wages ineligible to play football.
Sky Sports Germany is now reporting that those sales could be set to begin in earnest, with goalkeeper Bernd Leno edging closer to a move to promoted Fulham.
‘Been told that its looking good now (sic)’, journalist Florian Plettenburg. ‘Positive movements in the negotiations between Fulham and Arsenal. But it’s not a done deal yet. But an agreement is expected.’
Arteta referenced the size of his squad in a press conference last week, admitting that outgoings are now the focus of the clubs transfer strategy.
‘We have a large squad so we have to make some decisions as well on the players that we’re not going to be using consistently and be fair and straight with them,’ Arteta explained during the club’s tour of the United States. ‘That’s a process that is going to start very soon as well.
‘We have to [move players on],’ the Spaniard added. ‘We have a big squad and now we have to make things happen.’
Leno arrived at the Emirates Stadium in 2018 and has made 125 appearances since then, but has been understudy to Aaron Ramsdale since the England international’s arrival last summer.
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