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Club contract renewal woes as coronavirus crisis continues to wreak havoc

There never seems to be a dull moment as an Arsenal fan these days.In light of our current situation, with suspension of all sport, the transfer wheel has been driven by many rumours. The current man at the helm of the Gunnership has expressed on SkySports News that – in terms of transfers – the club is looking at “two or three different scenarios” . In addition to this there seems to be an expectation that player values will be reduced (also from Sky Sports News).

Pierre-Alain-Mounguengui

Mounguengui weighs in.

In other news this week, Gabon’s Football Association President has decided to slate the club by stating that the key man up top (whose contract runs out at the end of next year – we all know who this is) should leave for a more ambitious club. We have been involved in a number of contract crises over the past couple of years, which has possibly made us more of a target for other Premier League team rivals to snipe fan-favourite players from us.

And so comes to pass what Raul and our mutually silent Vinai predicted when they both did that infamous interview during last summer with esteemed and popular journalist Laura Woods:

Vinai and Raul both stated in the interview that one of their main priorities was to “not get players into the last year of their contracts. If you really want to keep that player, you need to renew him before getting into the last year of the contract”. Raul then expands: “if we cannot get a renewal before that, then we may have to sell”.

cedric-soares-pic

Remember him?

Granted that the pandemic has forced clubs to put most contract talks on hold, but there are still questions over certain players and their current situations. As reported by some, a few of these players whose contracts runs out this year (such as Cedric) may not be eligible to play for Arsenal when (or if) the rest of the season is resumes on July 1st which is the date players normally leave their current club and are free to pursue other clubs’ offers.

When the transfer window will open is still a mystery – everything having been put on hold for the moment – which has placed a number of players in limbo. The only way round this would be if all the governing bodies decide to ask clubs to extend the contract of each player at the end of their current contract. For us as fans that might mean we could look to keeping Cedric until the end of the season (whenever it finishes) and then when the window opens officially both parties might be able to reassess their current situation.

Resuming the discussion about our number fourteen at the moment: if Raul and Vinai follow through with what they have said in that interview then we might be looking at a very eventful window. With first team players such as David Luiz, Sokratis and other players running into the last year of their own contracts then there might be more ins and outs at the Emirates than during the infamous panic buy summer transfer window of 2011. But for now who knows what will happen to any of these players.

Only time will tell.

 

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