Analysis
Gunner be in trouble
ARSENAL are set to lose seven players for free this summer - and will only have £40million to spend to replace them.
The Gunners face the very real prospect of heading into the 2019-20 season with a threadbare squad after a string of poor decisions in recent years.
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With a number of first-teamers on the brink of leaving the Emirates, Unai Emery will have severely limited money to replace them.
Aaron Ramsey has already agreed to join Juventus in the summer, while Denis Suarez sees his loan from Barcelona come to an end.
Meanwhile, Petr Cech, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Danny Welbeck, Carl Jenkinson and Nacho Monreal all see their deals run-down at the end of June.
While the club will still boast a hoard of talented players, including Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, they'll be left worryingly bare in defence.
Out of contract Arsenal stars - summer 2019
Stephan Lichtsteiner
Petr Cech
Nacho Monreal
Aaron Ramsey (joining Juventus)
Danny Welbeck
Carl Jenkinson
Denis Suarez (end of loan)
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Hector Bellerin and Sead Kolasinac will be the only out-and-out full-backs on the books.
Callum Chambers will return from his loan at Fulham, but is more natural at centre-half, while Ainsley Maitland-Niles will press for more minutes in his natural midfield role.
Other players set to return from loan include Emile Smith-Rowe, Reiss Nelson and David Ospina, but all in all, Arsenal may be in a spot of bother this summer.
Unai Emery will be desperate to replace his outgoing stars, but will have only £40m to spend in July and August if they fail to bag a top-four spot.
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Of course, the Gunners coffers will be boosted should they sell some of their players.
But with a worryingly small squad on the horizon, selling may hardly be the smartest idea.
There's every chance Mesut Ozil will be on his way in the summer (taking the burden of his staggering £350,000-a-week wages with him), but the German is unlikely to command a massively high transfer fee after a generally dreadful season.
With a series of questionable transfers in recent seasons under Arsene Wenger - and even more dodgy dealings in the contract extension market, Arsenal may have snookered themselves.
Little money, few assets and first-team players on the brink of leaving for nothing - Gunners fans will be wondering just how their famous club got to this stage.
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