Simply Not Good Enough: 3 Players Arsenal Should Offload In The Summer

With Arsenal falling short of their title aspirations yet again, the onus on Arsene Wenger next season will be to add some quality additions who can provide that final push for that elusive Premier League and Champions League aspiration. However no matter how well Arsenal have done on the financial front, the simple reality is that Arsene Wenger will need to clear some dead weights in the club if he is to strive to make significant changes. Here at Soccersouls we have named three players who should be offloaded by the London club in the summer.

Abou Diaby:

As hard it is to hear given how much Arsene Wenger rates Abou Diaby as a player, it is perhaps time to end association with the Frenchman at the end of the season. Picked by Arsene Wenger to be the successor of one French legend Patrick Vieira there is definitely no doubting his skill or talent. However his long injury problems mean that he has hardly had a kick out in an Arsenal shirt in the last 3 years. As much as Arsene Wenger is sentimental about these things, he was not adverse to saying goodbye to Eduardo after the striker broke his leg. While Arsene Wenger feels differently about Diaby, it’s time to cut losses and accept that he will probably not be fit enough for him to make an impact in the Premier League.

Thomas Vermaelen:

The Arsenal captain is an unlikely name in this list and one which most Arsenal fans would not have even dreamed off even a year back. However, a year changes a lot of things and the Belgian has now gone from the best central defender and the captain of the club to the third choice amongst centre backs. While there is no doubting the Belgian’s capability as a player, it is clear as daylight that he is not willing to stay on as third choice. In such a scenario it would be probably wise of Arsene Wenger to sell the player to some other club rather than losing on a free at the end of the subsequent season.

Olivier Giroud:

This decision is probably the toughest out of the three. However no matter how well the Frenchman has done statistically anyone who watches the game can clearly see that he is just not Arsenal standard. Also there is another aspect in play here. The fact that Arsenal will depend on players like Mesut Ozil and Theo Walcott means that the London club need a pacy striker to finish off the chances, something Giroud is definitely not. With Giroud’s hold up play his main strength there is some concern that employing him as the main striker probably won’t bring out the best from the £42.4m man Mesut Ozil. Also add to all this all the disruptions from his personal life which annoyed Arsene Wenger so much and it would probably suit all parties if the player and the club part ways.