So, lots outgoing:
Sanchez Watt
Denilson
Andrei Arshavin
Vito Mannone
Sebastien Squillaci
André Santos
And these are only the ones sold not the ones on loan. Gervinho and Chamakh to go in the next 48 hours.
That is a huge amount of wages off the books. What with the Emirates cup being finished now Wenger best pull his finger out. If we fail to bring any big names in I think even the most staunch of Wenger Defenders will struggle to remain happy with him.
The main issue is, while those guys were taking wages for sure.... not a one of them even played let alone was first team. Wenger will either promote the likes of Gnabry, with a 20-30k a week contract to sit on the bench keeping Arshavins old seat warm, or he'll be looking for "back up" players to sit in those slots most likely, the likes of Sanogo. Its very hard to judge him because for some reason being the second last preseason game(afaik) we decided to play a kid who had been back from holiday for 3 days for almost a full game in which he looked pretty rubbish. A VERY harsh introduction, much like throwing a out for months Eboue on 20 mins into a game for which he had zero match fitness. Why we didn't get Podolski and Giroud one game each over this weekend I don't know.
Ultimately I think Wenger is trying to appease the fans with one big signing in Suarez, and little guys like Sanogo and a few more to follow to fill out the ranks of the team again.
Akpom, Gnabry, Eisfeld(if he isn't already looking to leave) Miyaichi and Frimpong will likely not be on loan this season(neither will they be given a decent chance). Yennaris/Coquelin and the likes are getting older, no game time and deserve to be. A few of those players you listed have also been on loan for a significant amount of time so aren't a huge wage difference from last year.
Don't forget we gave out some big new contracts during the season last year, Walcott, Jenks, Ramsey, Wilshire, Gibbs(iirc), Monreal already essentially replaced Santos in terms of wages. I wouldn't be surprised if all that lot basically cancel out.
However our new sponsorship deals(though not sure if they kick in this season or not) mean a huge amount more cash a year over our previous woeful deals. but ultimately its once again down to who Wenger buys with it. spending more is pointless if you buy people like Santos/Squillaci again, or worthless if you buy someone as good as Arshavin and bench him. Buy 3 great players... but drop one whenever he hits form(Giroud multiple times all year), Podolski(same), or start Diaby/Ramsey/Rosicky when they are fit despite being liabilities in most games even when you have superior players on the bench.
Money isn't and hasn't been the problem at Arsenal in the past 8 years and I can't see those fundamental issues, misusing the squad favouring useless players, arbitrarily dropping our most inform players for his "favourites" and buying worse players than he used to.
