Mikel Arteta set to transfer list seven Arsenal players, including record signing

The Gunners have taken everyone by surprise this season, including their own fans, as not many even had them down as finishing in the top 4, let alone as title challengers.

Despite their outstanding showings and performances in the league this season, Arsenal have fallen short in cup competitions having been knocked out of the FA and League Cups in the early rounds, and just two weeks ago they were dumped out of Europe on penalties by Sporting Lisbon at home.

The next step then for this young Arsenal team, is to have a squad that is able to compete on all fronts next season as Arteta will be expected to bring them to that next level.

As that is the primary aim, Arteta, according to The Sun, is prepared to listen to offers for seven fringe Arsenal players, including £72 million club record signing Nicolas Pepe.

Pepe is currently on loan at Nice, though his large wages may prove to be an obstacle in securing a deal away from the North London club.

Arteta may be forced to terminate his contract to get him off their books, similar to what he did with Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Sead Kolasinac and Hector Bellerin earlier in his tenure.

The Gunners are also prepared to listen to offers for the likes of Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Nuno Tavares, Pablo Mari, Cedric Soares and Alex Runarsson, with all of these players currently out on loan.

A couple of other players who could be next on the chopping block are Kieran Tierney, who has been given limited opportunities to impress this season under Arteta, and Folarin Balogun, who has had an outstanding goalscoring season on loan at Reims in France this season.

Arsenal missed out on top targets Mykhaylo Mudryk and Moises Caicedo in January though, but recovered to sign Jorginho and Leandro Trossard from their Premier League counter-parts, seeming to give the squad more options and depth in the back-end of this season.

Come the summer, Arsenal are poised to return with bids for Caicedo while they are also keeping tabs on Declan Rice, with the intention to strengthen their midfield.