Transfer Rumours 2/2 - Who's leaving the Emirates?

Yesterday I posted who may be signing for Arsenal in the summer but today is who might be leaving.

I start with Manuel Almunia who this season has lost the right to be number 1 goalkeeper. He also has a knack of getting "injured" after poor performances such as West Brom in September. He has only made 8 Premier League appearances this year and with Fabianksi and Szczesny both determined for regular football, the Spaniard may be offloaded. However Almunia is nearly 34 and has been trusted with the captains armband on occasions so Wenger may decide that his experience could be valuable in the dressing room. Not many support our current no.1 but if you saw the Barca game, when Szczesny went off after injuring himself, Almunia kept us in the game with some brilliant saves. So there are both positives and negatives to keep the keeper but will his lack of consistency see him offloaded? Obviously Lehmann will hang his boots up for the final time at the end of the season and the only other keeper to have his future questioned is Mannone, currently on loan at Hull. He was third choice keeper last season and so was loaned out to gain experience. The question is will Wenger find a Premier League club wanting the Italian on loan or will he decide to hold on to him and let him play in the Carling Cup? This decision may rest on what happens with Almunia so a close eye should be kept on this situation.

To defenders now and this is most likely position to be strengthened and so if it is are any current players likely to get the chop? The player with the most speculation has been Clichy who is apparently wanted by both merseyside clubs and some from abroad. If the left back decides to leave then Gibbs would surely just step in and Traore would be second choice. Yet there is no reason for Clichy to leave as he has as much chance of success here than at any other club interested in him. The only other player I could see departing London is Eboue who had won the fans back until Liverpool where his decision to foul Lucas may have destroyed our title hopes. Some may argue the Brazilian dived and time was up but still with his experience he should have just ushered him out of the box.

The centre of the park may see a big clear out with Wenger having lost patience with some of the team. Up to six players have all been rumoured with moves away and I begin with Cesc Fabregas. Barcelona are very likely to try and lure our captain away but I hope along with the majority of Arsenal fans he decides to stay for at least another year. What's for sure is that Wenger will not consider letting go of Cesc for less than £40 million and so because of Barcelona's lack of money the Spaniard is probably going to stay put. What our captain has to think about is that should he move to the Spanish giants he wouldn't be guaranteed a place in the starting 11. Two other players that have been linked with moves away are Nasri and Rosicky but I cant see this happening as Samir has had a great season at Arsenal and Rosicky owes it to Wenger for keeping faith in the Czech captain after his 18 month absence with injury. The final three who may be joining a new club are Arshavin, Diaby and Denilson. None of these players are in our strongest team but are still part of the squad for certain reasons. Arshavin had a great first season and despite not playing regulary this year he still has 9 assists and 6 goals so on his day is very influential. Diaby would have more playing time if it wasn't for injuries and being way over 6ft, I'm sure the Frenchman can come in handy against the taller of teams like Stoke etc. Finally there's Denilson who has also had a disappointing season and may be most likely to leave in the summer. Arsenal have many young players in midfield such as Ramsey, Eastmond, Frimpong, Lansbury and Henderson who will all want to play for the Gunners next year so selling Denilson could help the growth of the younger players.

Lastly it's the forwards and Bendtner is the big talking point. Fans are divided over the Dane; he has scored big goals for Arsenal but then again he can be disappointing at times. My opinion on him is that if he's happy to stay then he can but he must be aware a place on the bench is the best it will get. If not then some German clubs have been interested and could pay up to £10 million which would help finance moves into the club. The only other attacker who we may see leave is Vela. Many thought his loan move to West Brom would help him but Hodgson hasn't bothered playing him so a loan move again next season to a club willing to pick him every week in their line-ups could be of great benefit to the Mexican who is yet to show his full potential.

That's all for who might pack their bags in the summer. Unfortunately the media will spark lots more rumours by June but should any player be sold I would expect someone to step in their place.