Arsenal urged to sell "three or four" starters for Unai Emery next month

Arsenal legend Ian Wright has said “three or four” of the players who started against Liverpool on Saturday should be sold in January.

The Gunners fell to a 5-1 defeat at Anfield and Wright believes his former club must shift some deadwood in the winter transfer window to raise funds for vital new signings.

Which four Arsenal starters could leave in January? Five things to know:

1. Arsenal’s starting line-up on Saturday looked like this: Leno; Lichtsteiner, Mustafi, Sokratis; Maitland-Niles, Torreira, Xhaka, Kolasinac; Ramsey, Iwobi; Aubameyang.
2. After the game, Stephan Lichtsteiner came under heavy criticism from Wright on the former striker’s Twitter account.
3. Aaron Ramsey is out of contract at the end of the season and is expected to leave in January or next summer.
4. Lichtsteiner, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Lucas Torreira and Bernd Leno were all summer signings made by Unai Emery.
5. Ainsley Maitland-Niles scored at Anfield but was perhaps only in the team because of Hector Bellerin’s injury.

Wright made 288 appearances for Arsenal between 1991-98, scoring 185 goals and winning one Premier League title.

The 55-year-old spoke of his discontent towards the current Arsenal squad in a YouTube video after Saturday’s game.

“We’ve got to move players on that need to be moved on,” Wright said.

“What that showed me is we need players, there’s three or four players in that starting lineup that should be moved on or farmed out because we need to start to progress.

“Hopefully that result will start to release some funds for Unai.”

READ MORE: No-look Bobby’s back! Five things learned as Liverpool thrash Arsenal 5-1

Lichtsteiner blamed for Arsenal’s defensive problems at Liverpool

The Gunners were a shambles at the back against Liverpool, conceding four first-half goals after initially taking the lead early on.

Lichtsteiner, playing on the right of a back three, failed to clear the ball for the first goal, giving the hosts an instant way back into the game after falling behind.

In a Twitter video, Wright said: “If this was a crime scene, Lichtsteiner’s fingerprints are all over everything going bad for Arsenal at the minute.”

What’s more, Arsenal defensive midfielder Lucas Torreira attempted more tackles (5) than any of his teammates in the first half but failed to win a single one.

The post Arsenal urged to sell up to four players so Unai Emery can invest next month appeared first on Squawka News.

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