Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
After I published my article on who could be shipped out at White Hart Lane yesterday as promised I’m now going to do a series of clubs and this time around it’s the short journey to The Emirates, so without further ado let’s see who could be shown the exit door this Summer.
With Arsenal eventually finishing runners up to champions Leicester it was once again a case of The Gunners passing up a fantastic opportunity for silverware mainly due to a post Christmas collapse. That collapse has prompted Arsene Wenger to already bring in Switzerland’s Granit Xhaka and a failed bid for Jamie Vardy last month has highlighed the need for reinforcements up front but with any signatures into the club it usually means players departing. Let’s highlight four players who could be off in the next few weeks.
Theo Walcott
27 yeard old Theo Walcott has spent more than a decade under the stewardship of Arsene Wenger and once one of many great hopes for both club and country it’s fair to say that he has never hit the heights of a world class player. The question now is will he get any better.
He fell out of favour towards the end of the season and that lack of time coupled with a dip in form when he did play meant that he wasn’t selected for England’s Euro 2016 squad by Roy Hodgson. For someone who used to be in the starting eleven that is quite the fall from grace for the former Southampton player.
He has been reported to have been linked with a cross capital move to West Ham or perhaps even Leicester, what would be the price to prize Walcott away from The Emirates somewhere around £18-20m I would imagine. Walcott isn’t quite angling for a move just yet but failing to get into the side at the start of the season could see a deadline day move out of North London.
Kieran Gibbs
Another long serving Arsenal player who has been at the club since 2007 and again one who may have seen his best days at The Emirates now firmly behind him. Pushed down the pecking order by Hector Bellerin manager Arsene Wenger seems to have made his mind up as to his is first choice at Left Back and Gibbs could be the odd one out.
Another player who failed to make the England squad due to not being able to hold down a first team place if Gibbs does have hopes of resurrecting his international career then perhaps he may be suited with a move away to rejuvenate his hopes
The high point of last season would have undoubtedly been scoring the equaliser at home to Tottenham in the North London Derby but apart from that there has been little to write home about for Gibbs. Still a very useful player on his day and one that could do a job for a number of Premier League clubs
Mathieu Debuchy
After a first season that was curtailed by injury but still ended up in with F.A. cup success the second season was almost non existent for Debuchy, so desperate was he for first team football last season that he nearly signed for Aston Villa on loan.
After only 2 league appearances last season it seems as if the French international has been frozen and is now arguably the 4th choice right back at the club. With Carl Jenkinson now back on the books you would imagine once fit and if he isn’t farmed out on loan again that he will go above Debuchy in the Right Back ranks.
For Debuchy it seems as if a move away will be the only way in which he will be getting game time next season, will a return to France be on the cards or will one of the teams at the bottom end of the Premier League decide to take a punt on the former Newcastle man.
Calum Chambers
Jack of all trades, master of none. That is the problem that Chambers is facing. Yes he can play in many positions but he isn’t being trusted with the task of playing in any. A good comparison would be over the road at Tottenham and Eric Dier
Dier was also tarred with that brush but once he was given a position and then given the game time to settle into it then he and Tottenham have never looked back. The problem that Chambers has is that you can’t see where he would fit in Arsenal’s starting eleven.
Granit Xhaka has pushed him down the queue in centre midfield and he is far down the pecking order in terms of defenders. A handy player to have due to his utility perhaps Arsene Wenger may loan him out this season for his own personal development. Regular game time is needed soon for Chambers before all that potential goes to waste.
