Arsenal Transfer News: Wenger Ditches Five, Preps For Summer Transfers

Caught Offside are reporting that Arsene Wenger is selling off five of his players in order to fund acquisitions in the summer transfer market, specifically the signings of Santi Cazorla and Nuri Sahin which are expected to be finalised in the coming days. Prior to the transfer window closing on August 31st, Wenger will send five players packing on top of keeper Manuel Almunia and Carlos Vela, who were recently dispatched. It is expected that Park Chu-Young, who proved a major disappointment for the Gunners last term, will be among the culled, though Wenger may have to settle for less than the £2.4m he paid for a quick offload. Similarly, Marouane Chamakh has shown little promise, scoring only one Premier League goal in the 18 months of his tenure, and with Wenger wanting to rid himself of the player's £60k per week salary, he is expected to go elsewhere. Andrei Arshavin meanwhile won't be particularly fussed if he ends up leaving, because he wasn't used on Arsenal's Asian tour, and has a number of interested Premier League teams to choose from. Wenger paid £15m for the winger, but will reportedly accept about half that. Nicklas Bendtner was also left out of the tour, and on top of this, has by all accounts had a falling out with his boss. Perhaps most disastrously, Wenger appears desperate to dump defender Sebastien Squillaci, who has appeared tired and uncomfortable throughout his run at the squad. As a result, the Gunners boss is apparently prepared to accept as little as £1m for the Frenchman.