Arsenal Ready to 'Clean Out the Shed', Captain Odegaard and Havertz to be Expelled

Captain Martin Odegaard will be released by Arsenal. (arsenal.com)

JAKARTA - Arsenal is preparing to 'clean out the warehouse' by releasing a number of players. No less than eight players will be fired, including captain Martin Odegaard and striker Kai Havertz.

Arsenal will make a squad overhaul. It doesn't matter whether Arsenal succeeds in winning the English Premier League title or fails again. The North London club will still sell players.

The decision to release some of the pillar players must be taken by the club after draining funds to bring in Viktor Gyokeres et al. No less than Arsenal spent 268 million pounds or approximately 6.06 trillion for player transfers. Although the club suffered a loss of up to 1.4 million pounds during the 2024-2025 season, they still made player purchases to strengthen the squad to compete this season.

However, according to The Telegraph, Arsenal must indeed make a sale. At least if you let go of high-paid top players, the club can make savings from the salary sector and rebalance Arsenal's financial condition.

Interestingly, Arsenal will not hesitate to sell Odegaard. One of the senior players recruited from Real Madrid in 2021 and now captain of The Gunners.

The Norwegian national team midfielder is expected to soar after being brought to Madrid when he was 17 in 2015. He became a core player while playing at Real Madrid Castilla. However, Odegaard failed to compete when he entered the senior team and was often loaned out to other clubs.

Finally, Odegaard was loaned to Arsenal in 2021 and then got a permanent contract after being bought for 35 million euros. Odegaard was able to break into Arsenal's first team and then become captain.

Only, when he reached his golden age, Arsenal actually intended to let him go. This is inseparable from the latest condition of this 27-year-old player who no longer reaches the best performance.

He also suffered several injuries that made him absent for weeks. On the other hand, Arsenal already has a Spanish duo, Martin Zubimendi and Mikel Merino, who are the pillars of Arsenal's midfield strength.

From the transfer issue that is circulating, Manchester United is interested in bringing Odegaard. This will be an interesting transfer if Odegaard crosses to Man Utd who are Arsenal's rivals.

Another top player released by Arsenal is Havertz. Injury problems make this German national team striker never reach his best performance in the English League.

This season, Havertz started with a knee injury that made him have to sit out for quite some time. When he recovered and returned to play, the former Chelsea player again suffered an injury. Havertz is no longer the first choice, both for the center forward position and the attacking midfielder.

The players who will also pack their bags include Ben White, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard.

Not only the veteran players, those who are alumni of the club's academy such as Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri, will be sold because it is difficult to break into the first team. Even Nwaneri, who once played in Indonesia when he was playing for England at the 2023 U-17 World Cup, was loaned to Marseille.

If the plan to 'wash the warehouse' of players is carried out, Arsenal will make a recruitment. Only manager Mikel Arteta has not revealed who will be brought to the Emirates. However, there is already one that has emerged, Anthony Gordon who is now the mainstay of Newcastle United's front line.