Arsenal currently sit in 8th place on the Premier League table, seven points behind Chelsea who currently occupy 4th place.
If the Gunners are to turn their torrid season around going into the second-half of the Premier League campaign, here are five players they must offload;
Mesut Ozil
Mesut Ozil’s time at Arsenal has been largely plagued by inconsistency.
On his day, he’s capable of things that other midfielders can only dream about, but the problem with Ozil is the fact that he hardly ever exerts his influence on games anymore.
Perhaps this is down to the fact that the former Real Madrid man is now 31 years old and is entering the twilight of his football career, but regardless, a player of his caliber should be producing much more than he currently is for Arsenal.
Arsenal are in dire need of a reliable creative catalyst, and thus far, Ozil has proven he’s no longer capable of assuming that role on a consistent basis as evidenced by his lack of goal or assist contributions in his five Premier League appearances so far, hence, the club would be wise to offload him in January.
Shkodran Mustafi
Ever since Arsenal signed Mustafi back in 2016, he has failed to truly endear himself to the club’s supporters as a result of his questionable performances.
Sure, he’s had his moments over the past few seasons, but going by his performances, Arsenal would do well to offload him in January.
Mustafi got his first start of the season on Sunday, and while he put up a fairly decent showing, the fact that he would be unable to put up the performances the Gunners need to consistently shut teams out was glaring.
Sokratis
Sokratis’ inclusion on this list pretty much tells you all you need to know about Arsenal’s backline. The Gunners absolutely have to bolster their defence in the January transfer window as their current group of defenders are below par and Sokratis is not an exception.
The Greek centre-back has struggled to perform his defensive duties properly all season long and as such, Arsenal need to replace him in January.
Should the Gunners fail to make the necessary changes at the back, then they risk replicating their first half of the season over the next six months.
Calum Chambers
Calum Chambers put up a below par performance in Arsenal’s 2-2 draw against Norwich. Like Mustafi, Chambers proved to be a weak link vs Norwich, and contributed to the club’s dreadful defensive showing.
He became somewhat of a mainstay under Unai Emery having racked up 10 appearances so far, but in the game’s he’s featured in, he hasn’t displayed the kind of ability that Arsenal needs to fight their way into a spot in the top six.
Granit Xhaka
Of all the reasons Arsenal might have to offload Granit Xhaka in January, his antics shouldn’t really be one of them. The main problem with Xhaka being at Arsenal is the fact that he has been underwhelming for the most part this season.
In fact, over the course of the three year’s he’s been at Arsenal his influence in the middle of the part has been minimal.
Arsenal could replace Xhaka with Atletico Madrid’s Thomas Partey who has a very affordable release clause of £43.5m.
I am astound by the fact that the club management didn’t see this coming way back then at the beginning of the season. Arsenals long standing play style could not be successful without a solid mid-field players, who are consistently playing together to know each other’s moves. Emery’s biggest failure was not recognizing that early and changing the mid-field players every game. Ganduzi, Torriera and Cebajos shoud be constant in the middle of the pitch. Lacz, Abu and Martinelli should start every game up front. Metland Niles on the right wing, David and socratis in the center, Tierney on the left wing and Martnez should be 1st Goalkeeper. If the team keep this lineup consistently, the result will be much better than what we have now.