Arsenal keep or sell: White and Martinelli sold as Arteta eyes left-wing upgrade after £115m income | OneFootball

Arsenal will want to go big again in the summer transfer window, either to retain their Premier League crown or make another desperate push to get over the line after their latest devastating collapse.

For that to be possible, Mikel Arteta will have to sell a few first-team players, and there is a very good chance he will upset a lot of Arsenal supporters with the sale of a Hale End graduate.

With that in mind, we have gone through the Gunners squad and picked who should be sold and who should be kept in the summer.

David Raya – Keep

Raya would be a worthy winner of the PFA Player of the Season award after achieving his 18th clean sheet of the season at West Ham United, perhaps winning Arsenal the Premier League title with his save against Mateus Fernandes.

The Spaniard probably deserves to be called world-class now. Mikel Arteta certainly looks vindicated in signing him to replace Aaron Ramsdale.

Kepa Arrizabalaga – Keep

As far as back-up goalkeepers go, Kepa isn’t too bad. At the same time, he feels like the sort of goalkeeper who needs to be first choice to actually show his best. His Carabao Cup final howler was very costly, but if he is happy to stay, Arsenal should be happy to keep him around as depth behind Raya.

Tommy Setford – Keep

Setford is Arsenal’s third-choice goalkeeper and it should stay that way next season.

Benjamin White – Sell

White’s injuries are arguably the strongest case for selling him in the summer, but his performances have been a far cry from the pre-Jurrien Timber days. He epitomised consistency and reliability in 2022/23 and 2023/24 before setback after setback, and with Timber currently out injured, he hasn’t been too convincing.

There’s no doubt that White has been improving with his run of games, but he picked up an injury against West Ham on Sunday and is unlikely to play again this season, with his World Cup place in major doubt.

Arsenal fans will be gutted to see him go, but it’s the right time for both parties.

Jurrien Timber – Keep

Timber is even more consistent than White ever was and is a level above what we saw from the English international. Whether it’s one-on-one defending, aerial duels, or going forward, he is a fantastic player with no obvious weaknesses.

William Saliba – Keep

Saliba was huge in both Champions League semi-final legs against Atletico Madrid and is poised to finally win a trophy with his boyhood club.

The Frenchman is gradually getting better and better, while Gabriel Magalhaes has likely peaked, which isn’t a bad thing because he is bloody fantastic and not declining. Not only is he vitally important to Arsenal, but Saliba signed a five-year contract extension last September.

While selling Saliba would be a crazy thing to do, he does feel very Real Madrid. It’s going to happen one day. It won’t be this summer, but it could be next, and Arsenal will probably get a world-record fee for a defender.

Gabriel Magalhaes – Keep

Probably the most irreplaceable Arsenal player, Gabriel is a demon in both boxes. They simply cannot replace him.

Cristhian Mosquera – Keep

Mosquera is a brilliant young talent who is going nowhere.

Piero Hincapie – Keep/sign permanently

Hincapie struggled in his first few months at the Emirates, but he has really come into his own. He has arguably been Arsenal’s best player since the start of March.

The Ecuadorian defender’s loan should be made permanent in the summer. The transfer fee will reportedly be €52million.

Riccardo Calafiori – Keep

Calafiori has one more season to prove he can stay fit, otherwise Arsenal should put the feelers out to Real Madrid; they were in for the Italian defender in 2024 before he moved to the Premier League.

Myles Lewis-Skelly – Keep

There is a growing fear among the Emirates faithful that Lewis-Skelly could be sacrificed in the summer transfer window as Arsenal continue to tread a fine line financially. The pure profit Lewis-Skelly would generate from his sale would be extremely useful; however, Arsenal would be losing an incredible young English talent with the potential to become a world-class player for club and country.

While it might make sense when it comes to Profit and Sustainability rules, the sale of Lewis-Skelly makes little sense from a footballing perspective and would go down very poorly with the club’s fanbase.

Martin Zubimendi – Keep

Having been Arsenal’s rock over the winter, Zubimendi has found himself out of the team as Lewis-Skelly has taken his chance in midfield during the Premier League and Champions League run-in.

He seems very, very tired after dealing with a relentless schedule coupled with Rodri’s slow return to fitness for Spain, and suddenly Zubimendi has gone from irreplaceable and the final piece of Arteta’s puzzle to someone who stagnates Arsenal’s attacking play and is very much replaceable. Amazingly, we now live in a world where the £51m midfielder is unlikely to start in a Champions League final.

This is all very negative, but Zubimendi should obviously not be sold in the summer. He remains a crucial player and this is only his first season in England.

Christian Norgaard – Sell

Norgaard should probably be allowed to play some football. He is a very useful squad player but has been used very, very sparingly. If he is sold, there is no doubt that we’ll find ourselves in a situation where Arsenal fans are saying in November, ‘Golly, I wish we still had Norgaard around’.

Declan Rice – Keep

Duh.

Mikel Merino – Keep

He is a very good player and the only way we can see Merino leaving is if he is homesick. At 29 years of age and an integral part of the Spanish national team, we doubt he is.

Martin Odegaard – Keep

Odegaard has actually been pretty rubbish for two years now, but his cameo off the bench against West Ham swung the game in Arsenal’s favour as he assisted the winner and potentially title-clinching goal.

But, yes, if there is a big-money offer (there won’t be), Arsenal should definitely consider it.

Fabio Vieira – Sell

With six goals and five assists in the Bundesliga this season, Vieira is expected to join Hamburg permanently in the summer. If that doesn’t happen, Arsenal should still sell the Portuguese playmaker.

Eberechi Eze – Keep

Eze’s first season at Arsenal has been very hot and cold, but that’s not a reason to sell him after a single season.

Kai Havertz – Keep

Havertz is a useful player to have. You don’t want a £60m signing to be nothing much more than ‘useful’, but that’s where we are.

Ethan Nwaneri – Keep

Nwaneri is in a similar situation to Lewis-Skelly. If Arsenal need to make a sale that upsets fans, it’s going to be Nwaneri. Fans won’t like it one bit because he is an incredible young talent. Yet, somehow, he has been overtaken in the Arsenal pecking order by Max Dowman.

Nwaneri’s loan spell at Marseille started perfectly with a debut goal, but it has only gone downhill since then. He has struggled for minutes and his work-rate has been criticised by his manager. It has not been very useful and could actually be a blessing in disguise if clubs now refuse to meet Arsenal’s asking price in the summer transfer window.

On the other hand, it could mean Lewis-Skelly is the player sacrificed.

The bottom line is that we think Arsenal need to keep both. The underlying feeling is that one will be sold.

Max Dowman – Keep

The obvious answer is: Of course not.

Reiss Nelson – Sell

Before Jack Wilshere, there was Cesc Fabregas. After Jack Wilshere, there was Reiss Nelson. After Reiss Nelson, there was Bukayo Saka. There has since been Myles Lewis-Skelly, Ethan Nwaneri and Max Dowman. Nelson is the anomaly. And that is a damn shame.

It’s been a long time coming and after several loans, Nelson needs a proper fresh start next season.

Bukayo Saka – Keep

Obviously.

Noni Madueke – Keep

If there is a hill Arteta will be willing to die on, it’s Madueke. No matter how desperate Arsenal supporters are to see the back of the ex-Chelsea winger, he’s going nowhere. And you know what? There’s a player in there.

Gabriel Martinelli – Sell

Martinelli wasn’t sold last summer, so he probably won’t be sold this summer, yet here we are again.

It’s unclear how much Arsenal would expect to get for Martinelli, but it’s clear that they need to sign a big upgrade on the left wing.

Leandro Trossard has been an excellent player for the Gunners but is not the answer as their first choice in that position, while Martinelli has failed to reach the heights of his 15-goal Premier League campaign in 2022/23, proving that he is also not the answer.

The Brazilian is not getting any better, but there is a high ceiling there – a ceiling that will only be reached if he moves elsewhere. Bayern Munich made contact last summer but are more fixated on Newcastle United’s Anthony Gordon, who has also been linked with Arsenal.

If Arsenal swoop for Gordon, Bayern could reignite their interest in Martinelli, but there’s not much hope among Arsenal fans that Andrea Berta can get a suitable fee for the 24-year-old. The Gunners are simply abysmal at selling players.

We are probably looking at a £40m sale that could have been double that a few years ago. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but with Martinelli out of contract next year (with the option to extend to 2028), this summer is the best time to cash in and finally sign the elite left-sided forward Arsenal have been craving for so long.

Leandro Trossard – Keep

Trossard has been a bit pants for the entirety of 2026…until the start of May. If the Gunners go on to win the Premier League title, his goal against West Ham will be remembered by Arsenal fans forever.

Football fans are fickle and Trossard’s recent performances mean he is now the best winger of all time and must not be sold at any price.

Gabriel Jesus – Sell

This simply cannot be up for debate. Jesus is not the player he once was and Arsenal need to cash in, unless he manages to suffer another knee injury before June.

Viktor Gyokeres – Keep

Gyokeres is getting better every week and his team-mates seem to like passing to him a bit more now, which is nice. Keep him and watch him explode in 2026/27.