Andrea Berta must rescue Arsenal’s transfer market reputation this summer and bring the club more than £100million in sales
Arsenal have plenty to do during this summer transfer window, and the attention is unquestionably on the incomings, as it always is. However, there is a particular focus this year on what Andrea Berta can achieve in terms of sales.
His predecessor Edu Gaspar was notorious for not getting the best value from potential exits, infamously cancelling many contracts with interest in the likes of Mesut Ozil, Shkodran Mustafi and Sead Kolasinac, among others, non-existent.
It wasn’t until his final summer that saw Eddie Nketiah, Emile Smith Rowe and Aaron Ramsdale sold from Arsenal for a combined fee, inclusive of add-ons, of around £90million. However, Edu would depart later that year, and now Berta has come in.
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In his first summer, he was lauded for his incomings, a squad built to win the Premier League, and that is exactly what it did. However, in terms of sales, only around £10million was brought in from senior players; Nuno Tavares’ obligation clause (not negotiated by Berta) being paid by Lazio, Marquinhos returning to Brazil for around £2million and Jakub Kiwior’s loan fee of £1.5million which has since turned into a £17million permanent sale this summer – which in retrospect certainly looks like a bargain for FC Porto.
Why has it been so hard to sell, and what can be expected from the club this summer? Firstly, the club’s record sale remains Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in 2017 at £35million to Liverpool. Some sales like Alex Iwobi, Smith Rowe and Folarin Balogun have come close but overall not broken the record.
Sadly Arsenal just have not had the assets to sell. While Manchester City have had surplus major talent down the years like Julian Alvarez, Cole Palmer, Raheem Sterling, Ferran Torres and even Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko who joined Arsenal, the Gunners have been building instead of having natural rotation and evolution of their squad.
The best talent has stayed until now. This is the first summer where some of the most regularly featuring players could leave, such as Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard, Martin Odegaard, Ben White and Gabriel Jesus.
There is potential for the club to earn record-breaking fees. Even on the youth side, Ethan Nwaneri could earn Arsenal a considerable sum, having struggled to gain minutes.
The market is also inflated by other transfers, with the likes of Manchester City spending big money on players. It has given Arsenal leverage in any negotiations.
That said, Arsenal need buyers for players who are indeed now taking, most likely, a step down. Players who are surplus to requirements and from a club that has been notoriously poor when it comes to selling.
This is the challenge Berta faces, overhauling the club’s reputation in the market. Whoever leaves, will become the benchmark for all future exits, but with the players listed, the club should be making beyond £100million comfortably if the majority to leave.
