The five Arsenal players who could leave in January
Stefan Bienkowski
- Updated: 4 Jan 2022 12:36 CST
- 4 min read
Arsenal haven’t had a bad start to the new Premier League season, but Mikel Arteta will know that new recruits are needed to help his side push on and claim a top four finish.
The London club can lay claim to some of the most exciting prospects in the English top flight, but certain positions certainly need investment.
To do that, Arsenal will likely need to raise money from the sale of squad players that are no longer needed at the club - so who could be leaving Arsenal in the coming month?
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Rob Holding
Arsenal spent a fortune on new defenders in the summer transfer window and one player that has seen their playing time suffer because of that is Rob Holding.
So far this season the 26-year-old defender has been afforded just three appearances in the Premier League, as Arteta has prioritised the likes of Ben White and Gabriel.
However, Holding is by no means a bad player and would certainly prove himself as a perfectly solid signing for a number of Premier League clubs. And in January he may just get the opportunity to do just that.
Sead Kolasinac
The sad fact of the matter is that Saed Kolasinac probably shouldn’t be an Arsenal player at all this season. After returning to Schalke on loan last season, the defender would have surely made the move permanent had the German side not been relegated from the Bundesliga.
As such, the Bosnia international was forced to return to Arsenal until a new bidder could take him off their hands in the summer or he ran down his contract. The former didn’t happen, so Kolasinac is simply waiting around to leave Arsenal when his deal expires at the end of the season.
However, January will bring with it an opportunity to speak to other clubs and if Kolasinac can convince a club to pay off the rest of his contract, Arsenal may be tempted to let him go.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles
Despite a successful loan spell at West Brom last season, Ainsley Maitland-Niles has returned to Arsenal this time around and seen no notable improvement in his game time or standing in Arteta’s squad.
Indeed, the central midfielder has managed just two starts in the Premier League in this current league campaign and undoubtedly sits behind Granit Xhaha and Thomas Partey in the club’s defensive midfield pecking order.
According to Football London, the player is set to complete a loan move to Roma in the coming weeks and could end up joining the Serie A side on a permanent deal in the summer.
Eddie Nketiah
Arsenal will want to sell a number of older and more useless players in January but they may have to bid farewell to young striker Eddie Nketiah if they aren’t careful.
According to the Athletic, the forward rejected an offer to extend his existing contract at the start of the month and remains unconvinced by Arteta’s promises of more game time in the future.
With reports in England suggesting a move to Crystal Palace could be on the cards, the young England prospect wants game time now and he may push for a move in the coming transfer window to get exactly that.
Alexandre Lacazette
No player at Arsenal has been as heavily linked with an exit in January as much as Alexandre Lacazette.
Whether it be his injuries, wavering form or lack of any real interest in signing an extension with the club, all signs are pointing to the French striker departing from Arteta’s squad as soon as possible.
It’s probably more likely that Lacazette will leave in the summer, but we can’t rule out the club drawing a line under this saga by selling him in January.
