ARSENAL trio Rob Holding, Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis Papastathopoulos have reportedly been put up for sale with the club looking to raise funds.
Mikel Arteta boasts a number of centre-backs in his squad, and with William Saliba returning to the side from his loan spell at Saint-Etienne, the Gunners know they can’t keep all their defenders.
Arsenal defenders Rob Holding, Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis Papastathopoulos could be on the move at the end of the season
Pablo Mari’s loan spell from Flamengo could also be turned into a permanent stay, putting further pressure on the North Londoners to sell a number of players.
Funds are already believed to be limited due to the coronavirus crisis as well as Arsenal likely to miss out on Champions League football next season.
And now The Athletic journalist David Ornstein has stated that the likes of Holding, Mustafi and Sokratis could all be heading out the Emirates door.
Speaking on The Ornstein and Chapman Podcast, he said: “Arsenal have a vast number of central defenders and presumably they’ll need to get rid of some this summer.
“We know that some of them, including Rob Holding, Sokratis and maybe Shkodran Mustafi as well, Arsenal will listen to offers for.”
Holding – who has suffered a number of injuries since joining the club from Bolton in 2016 – took to Instagram after Ornstein’s comments where he posted a cryptic message.
Uploading a picture of him training, the Gunners fan favourite said: “Focus your energy on what you can control.”
David Luiz recently fuelled speculation he could leave at the end of the campaign after he told Benfica’s website he would to love to return to the Portuguese club.
He said: “I always said that I would like to end my career at Benfica. In football everything changes, what is true today, tomorrow is a lie, but my feeling is not!
“I love Benfica. My dream is to step on the pitch of Estadio da Luz in their colours.
“For all that I lived and felt, for what Benfica is in my life and in my history, for everything, Benfica is bigger than any player.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
