Arsenal won’t sell stars to fund new signings

Mikel Arteta insists Arsenal will not sell their best players to fund an overhaul of his inconsistent team.

Arteta has been linked with several players as he prepares for a summer rebuild, but mooted moves for the likes of Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey won’t be cheap.

While the club broke their transfer record to land Nicolas Pepe last summer, Arsenal are now set to be without Champions League action yet again next term.

Such big-money deals appear to be out of the reach of Arsenal at the moment, which has led to speculation that some players would have to be moved on to fund any major signings.

Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang would raise the biggest fee and has been mentioned as a Barcelona target with one year left on his contract.

But Arteta, who saw his side win their third game in six days with a 4-0 victory over Norwich on Wednesday, does not feel that is the right approach.

Asked if the club would have to sell to bring in new players, the Arsenal manager said: “Obviously we are putting different plans together to see what we are going to be able to do. At the moment the uncertainty is still big.

“We have seen different things. The way that Chelsea is dealing with the market is different to rest at the moment, but Bayern Munich as well they’ve have been really aggressive.

“So I don’t know. But if you ask me, we cannot be a team that has to sell his best player to try to bring in and improve our squad. That’s for sure.”

(AFP)