Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has hinted at a busy summer transfer window at the Emirates Stadium as he looks to get the club back among the top sides in the Premier League.
The Gunners face a first season without European football for 25 years as things stand, with only an outside chance of qualifying for the lesser continental competitions.
While the club cannot match the spending power of some of the league’s biggest clubs there is likely to be something of an overhaul of playing staff as Arteta and the club’s technical staff look to address on-field issues.
A number of fringe players are expected to depart, with decisions also to be made on whether to offer new deals to the likes of David Luiz and to retain those players returning from loan deals.
‘There are so many things to do,’ Arteta replied when asked if he expected a big outlay of players coming and going in the summer.
‘We already have a lot of players on loan, a lot of players with contracts still that we have to sort and it will depend what happens with a lot of those players.
‘And what we are able to recruit to improve the team is going to determine where we are.
‘We have been sitting down the whole year, we have been in constant communication, and things will change.
‘Some things will stick to the plan that we already have and some other things will come out. But we sit down very, very regularly to talk about those things obviously.’
The job of rejuvenating the Arsenal squad began in January where the club opted to terminate the contracts of Mesut Ozil, Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis Papastathopoulos at a cost of millions.
Arteta moved to ease concerns among the fanbase that Arsenal would have to make similar arrangements this summer to clear out unwanted talent.
‘I don’t know where the summer will take us. I think every situation will be different and hopefully we are not in that position any more,’ he added.
Asked if Arsenal needed to sell players in order to buy, Arteta replied: ‘I don’t think it is completely like that, but it will restrict and it will alter some plans in relation to what happens with one or two.’
While Arteta will work closely alongside technical director Edu, he can also count of the input of Richard Garlick.
Garlick, who has been working as director of football at the Premier League, was announced as Arsenal’s new director of football operations earlier this year and the PA news agency understands he will begin his new role on 17 May.
That means Garlick will be in place before the end of the current season and well ahead of the transfer window opening.
Newcastle boss Steve Bruce has already said the club would be keen to land loan-signing Joe Willock on a permanent basis, while Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ future is up in the air after he was relegated while on loan at West Brom.
The PA news agency understands one man who will be part of Arteta’s plans is 20-year-old defender William Saliba, who is currently on loan at Nice and has yet to make his senior Arsenal debut despite joining for £27 million in 2019.
