Mikel Arteta’s trade is at risk, and about the Bukayo Saka replacement plan
Mikel Arteta’s trade is at risk: On Monday, Arsenal’s technical director Edu was all over the news because he talked about his plans for transfers and how he won’t make the same expensive mistakes that have plagued the club in recent years. However, even though he has no plans to sell Bukayo Saka any time soon, his comments might have scared Nicolas Pepe, the record-breaking signing for the Gunners. The star player from Lille hasn’t lived up to his price tag in North London, and he’s thought to be up for sale this summer, even though he’s said he wants to do well at the Emirates. We also saw Mikel Arteta talking to one of his players in the background of some new video.
Here’s what is going on in and around Arsenal.
Edu’s Saka plans and replacement benchmarks
Edu explained his transfer plan well and used Bukayo Saka to show how Arsenal plans to replace players they might sell in the future. Even though earlier this year, the technical director of Arsenal played down how active the club would be in the transfer market, he has been in charge of a busy summer of business.
Saka, on the other hand, has less than two years left on his contract, so clubs in the Premier League are starting to show interest in the versatile England player. Edu says that the 20-year-old won’t be leaving, but he used him as an example to show how important it is to have a replacement ready when a player leaves the Emirates.
“If we sell, I don’t know, Bukayo Saka – that’s not going to happen but it’s just an example,” Edu said. “If we’re going to sell Bukayo Saka, we as a club have to prepare his replacement straight away. So someone has to be in the squad or we have to manage the market well so if we sell we have him, we have someone straight away to replace him in our model.”
Arteta comes face to face with conflict
There could be trouble in North London because Edu and Nicolas Pepe don’t seem to agree on what will happen to Pepe. The winger from Ivory Coast is determined to finally show what he’s made of after three disappointing years at Arsenal. He came to Arsenal from Lille for £72 million.
But Edu seemed to say that Pepe doesn’t have a future with the Gunners, which isn’t too surprising since rumors have it that the 27-year-old is leaving this summer. In an honest assessment of Arsenal’s past bad behavior in the transfer market, the Brazilian said: “If a guy is performing and has a big salary, that’s not a problem. When the player is 26-plus, big salary and he’s not performing, he’s killing you.”
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