Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta admits his squad is too big and a number of players will have to leave the club in the January transfer window.
The Spaniard signed the likes of Willian, Gabriel and Thomas Partey last summer but he was frustrated in the club’s inability to trim down the wage bill.
Mesut Ozil, Sead Kolasinac, Sokratis and Callum Chambers are all considered surplus to requirements, while the club are keen to loan out a number of talented youngsters.
Arteta hopes to add to his selection next month but the Spaniard admits the club’s ‘priority’ is to reduce the number of players in the first team squad first.
‘Well, we have a large squad. We knew that,’ said Arteta.
‘A lot of things that should have happened in the summer we could not accomplish them for different reasons. There are a lot of players that are going to go on loan. They are going to leave.
‘That’s the priority at the moment because we cannot sustain the numbers that we have in certain positions. We are looking to do that. And then we will see if we have the right opportunities in the positions that we need some more help we are working with the club to try to address them.’
Arsenal have been in talks with Ozil’s representatives to cut short his contract at the club, as his deal expires at the end of the season.
The German is the club’s top earner on £350,000-a-week and his wages are preventing the club from bringing in new players.
Money is tight at the Emirates but Arteta admits he does want to add new faces to his squad.
‘Obviously financially, it’s not only us, it’s every club in the Premier League that have been in hit with big numbers,’ said Arteta.
‘We know that this is not going to change in the last year or so. That we are gonna have to add somehow if we’re going to improve the team in different ways financially with some support.
‘We will decide whether this is with loans or buying players in relation to the opportunities we will have in the market.’
