Sead Kolasinac is set to leave Arsenal on loan in January with former Gunners midfielder Perry Groves labelling the move as ‘the beginning of the cull’.
The left-back will rejoin Schalke once the transfer window opens with the Bosnia and Herzegovina international already in Germany ahead of a proposed temporary switch to the Bundesliga club.
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Arsenal will be covering part of his wages for the duration of the loan, but it’s understood there will be no obligation to make the deal permanent.
The 27-year-old – who tested positive for coronavirus last month – joined the Gunners on a free transfer in 2017 and has played 113 times for the north London club.
The signing of Kieran Tierney pushed him out of favour and has been restricted to just one Premier League appearance so far this season.
Groves admitted he will be pleased to see players like Kolasinac leaving.
The talkSPORT regular said: “It’s the beginning of the cull. I think he’s on upwards of £100,000-a-week so if they are paying a percentage that might free up some money if they are going to get some players in themselves on loan maybe.
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“There’s a lot of players like [Shkodran] Mustafi and Sokratis [Papastathopoulos], the deadwood players that will be cleared out at the end of the season.
“He hasn’t really kicked on. Everyone thought when he came in the side he’s old school and tough. A no-nonsense left-back; but defensively he didn’t think.
“We’re not short at left-back because [Bukayo] Saka can play everywhere.”
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said that it will largely be outgoings in the January transfer window to trim down the squad rather than players coming in.
“We have a large squad and we knew that. A lot of things that should have happened in the summer, we cannot accomplish for different reasons,” Arteta said ahead of Saturday’s trip to West Brom.
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“There are some players that are going to go on loan and going to leave and that is the priority at the moment.
“We cannot sustain the numbers that we have in certain positions and we are looking to do that, and then we will see if we have the right opportunity in the positions where we need some more help.”
Arteta was quizzed on reports which suggested Kolasinac was close to a move to Schalke, but he responded: “There are some conversations around a few players and whether we can find some loans.
“The numbers we have in the squad at the moment are really big, but again we cannot confirm anything yet.”
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