Arsenal stars Aubameyang, Ozil and Koscielny to be sold THIS summer if they don’t sign new deals
The Gunners could lose up to nine players on a free if they don't sell them or hurry up with a fresh contract offer
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ARSENAL stars Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mesut Ozil and Laurent Koscielny could be be sold THIS summer if they don’t sign new contracts.
The Gunners could lose up to nine players on a free if they don't sell them or hurry up with a fresh contract offer.
On Tuesday, managing director Vinai Venkatesham claimed the club are working to avoid any more Aaron Ramsey-type contract sagas.
Arsenal failed to tie the Welsh star down to an improved contract and ultimately allowed him to join Juventus for absolutely nothing.
Venkatesham has now claimed the club will never get themselves into that situation again.
He said that those whose deals expire in 2021 or sooner will be sold unless they commit their future to the club.
He said: "When we are selling players we need to maximise the funds we get to reinvest in the team.
"We need to be really disciplined when we are dealing with senior players who are not towards the end of their careers.
"So that means we have to start making the difficult decisions when they have two years left on the contracts.
"We're either going to renew those contracts or we're going to be selling them. We're going to have to be brave in those decisions.
"We can't be in a situation where we're allowing players to walk out of the door for free unless they are coming towards the end of their careers."
GUNNER GO?
Among the high-profile names that could be sold is captain Koscielny, who is out of contract in the summer of 2020.
If no new deal is agreed before January rival clubs can launch pre-contract offers this coming January.
In the summer of 2021, star striker Aubameyang - who scored 22 Premier League goals this season, will see his contract expire.
Mesut Ozil, the club's best paid player, is in the same situation as are Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Shkodran Mustafi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
This summer already promised to be a hectic one for the Gunners, even before their new policy.
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Danny Welbeck will leave this summer, it was announced, while Petr Cech is retiring - that much is certain.
However, Stephan Lichtsteiner, Nacho Monreal and Carl Jenkinson are all also out of contract at the end of June.
Lichtsteiner is expected to leave, while the futures of Monreal and Jenkinson - tipped to be part of a mass exodus this summer - are still uncertain.
