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Charlie Nicholas believes Arsenal may need to sell Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Former Arsenal forward Charlie Nicholas believes his old club may need to sell some of their star players to raise funds for the transfer market.

The Gunners appointed Mikel Arteta as their new full-time manager on Friday, before being held to a goalless draw by Everton at Goodison Park.

“Defensively, in midfield, in attack – [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang’s all over the place, [Alexandre] Lacazette doesn’t get a game and feels unloved – he might have to sell them to get some money in,” he told Sky Sports.

"The other issues, the big ones, are the leadership issues that he has to take on. Does [Mesut] Ozil fit? No, well he can go. [Granit] Xhaka? There is interest from Hertha Berlin, you can go because what you did would not suit what I want. There are many big decisions to make.

“It’s easy to say get rid of six or seven players but they aren’t ready to replace them yet, so that’s the hard part.

“But the first thing he must do is walk in the dressing room and say ‘here’s my rules, here’s the way I’m doing things, I’m leading this football team now so get on board or move on’.

“It’s as basic as that for Arsenal to start the proceedings. It’s not easy, with the state Arsenal are in nothing is easy. Forget about style, because they don’t have a style, he needs to go in there and sort the issues.”

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Greg Lea

Greg Lea is a freelance football journalist who's filled in wherever FourFourTwo needs him since 2014. He became a Crystal Palace fan after watching a 1-0 loss to Port Vale in 1998, and once got on the scoresheet in a primary school game against Wilfried Zaha's Whitehorse Manor (an own goal in an 8-0 defeat).