Arsenal keen to offload these two big earners – and know their replacements

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Arsenal will sell Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan this summer to fund moves for Celtic’s Kieran Tierney and Cagliari midfielder Nicolo Barella, according to reports.

Mesut Ozil Henrikh Mkhitaryan

The Gunners are looking to reduce their wage bill to help raise a budget for the transfer market.

Aaron Ramsey is already a confirmed departure to Juventus on a free transfer at the end of the season and Petr Cech is set to retire.

However, The Mirror believes that Ozil, who earns £350,000 a week, and Mkhitaryan, who’s on £180,000 a week, could be sacrificed to help boost club finances.

The report says that the Gunners could begin the summer with a budget of £45 million if they fail to qualify for the Champions League.

Scotland international Tierney is said to be his preferred choice to strengthen the left-back spot, while Italy star Barella is a midfield target, but comes with a price tag of around £43 million.

A move for the 22-year-old could therefore depend on Arsenal achieving a place in next season’s Champions League, while Emery is also believed to want a new central defender and an attacking midfielder.

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Alasdair Mackenzie

Alasdair Mackenzie is a freelance journalist based in Rome, and a FourFourTwo contributor since 2015. When not pulling on the FFT shirt, he can be found at Reuters, The Times and the i. An Italophile since growing up on a diet of Football Italia on Channel 4, he now counts himself among thousands of fans sharing a passion for Ross County and Lazio.