According to various reports, the Premier League now has a rule in which club wage bills cannot be £7 million higher than they were during the 2016/17 season. If a particular team happens to exceed the additional £7 million limit, then they would have to make up the difference through external revenue (i.e., player sales).
One particular team that many feel could be affected the most by this rule is Arsenal. After all, the north London club have two superstars that are demanding a significant pay raise. Forward Alexis Sanchez and midfielder Mesut Özil are both currently on a reported £140k per week wage structure, and the first step in securing their signatures on a new deal would be to basically double their current wages.
While giving both Sanchez and Özil £280k per week (£14.5 million each) and staying under the Premier League wage rule would be impossible, that does not mean that Arsenal cannot afford the two pivotal players. Assuming the Gunners do offer the dynamic duo the aforementioned contracts (and reports suggest they have), there are multiple players currently in the Arsenal first team that will be sold this summer to clear room in the wage bill.
Players like Mathieu Debuchy, Carl Jenkinson, Joel Campbell, Kieran Gibbs, and Lucas Perez are all almost certain to depart north London in a search for more playing time. Combined, this quintet make about £275,000 per week (£14.3 million annually) on their current contracts. Assuming these five players are not on the Arsenal roster for the 2017/18 campaign, their wages could be theoretically transferred over to give Sanchez and Özil their £280k per week salaries (not to mention all of the money the Gunners will receive in selling these players as well).
Along with these potential exits, there are even more possible departures from the Arsenal first team. David Ospina (£40k per week), Jack Wilshere (£90k per week), Chuba Akpom (£15k per week), and even Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (£65k per week) could be on the way out this summer as well.
Although the club could be set to shed five to eight first team players from their roster, they are very capable to sufficiently replace these outgoing players. The Gunners are currently in a stable financial position and should not have many issues in dealing with transfer fees of incoming players. Along with two or three ‘major’ signings, Arsenal also have a few youngsters (Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Jeff Reine-Adelaide) that can step up and help contribute during the upcoming season.
