Earlier this month, it was announced that Andrea Berta had agreed to become Arsenal’s new Sporting Director, and while he’ll be joining a team who have fought for the Premier League title three seasons on the bounce now, he’ll have a lot of work to do.
Mikel Arteta’s side are undoubtedly one of the very best in the country, but this season has proven that attacking reinforcements are desperately needed.
One of the stars most heavily linked with the club in recent months has been Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak, although, with reports claiming he could cost up to £150m, it’d be a Herculean deal to get over the line.
That said, with several players set to leave this summer, a significant amount of the wage bill should be freed up, which could help the ownership secure the Swede’s services.
However, there is another star player who almost certainly won’t be leaving this year but should be one of the players Berta looks to move on as soon as possible, as they make more than twice as much as Isak.
Arsenal's decreasing wage bill
So, before getting to the player in question, it’s worth looking at how much Arsenal’s wage bill could decrease by this summer, with certain players’ contracts expiring and others potentially being sold.
Starting with those who are in the former group, it seems almost guaranteed now that Thomas Partey, who makes £200k-per-week, and Jorginho, on £110k-per-week, will be leaving the club at the end of June alongside Celtic-bound Kieran Tierney, who also makes £110k-per-week.
Raheem Sterling, who has been earning around £110k-per-week and Neto, who makes £50k-per-week, will also come off the wage bill when their loan spells end in the summer.
Finally, while there is a chance the club will fail to sell any of their fringe players in the transfer window, it feels increasingly likely that Oleksandr Zinchenko, who earns £150k-per-week, will finally be moved on, as he’ll have just a year left on his contract if not.
So, when you add together the wages of those who are out of contract, those on loan and Zinchenko, it doesn’t seem too far-fetched that Arsenal could reduce their wage bill by an astounding £730k-per-week before making any signings in the summer, which comes out to a massive figure of £37.96m per year.
Such an incredible sum of money being saved could help Berta and Co raise the finances needed to complete their summer transfer plans, although there is still another big earner in the club who needs to be moved on as soon as possible.
The Arsenal star Berta needs to sell
With a lot of Arsenal’s big earners either making good on their wage packets or mentioned above, it will likely come as no surprise that the player we are talking about is Gabriel Jesus.
The Brazilian forward joined the Gunners for around £45m in the summer of 2022, and while he was truly sensational for the first half of that season, he has not been the same player since suffering a serious knee injury at the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
Since then, it would be hard to argue that the former Manchester City star has been deserving of his enormous £265k-per-week wage when potentially world-class strikers like Isak are earning less than half of that, coming in at around £120k-per-week.
For example, while the Sao Paulo-born nine wasn’t bad last season, he was, as pundit Micah Richards put it, “frustrating,” as for all the silky footwork and innate skill he has, he was only able to muster up a tally of eight goals and eight assists in 36 appearances, which wasn’t enough to stop Kai Havertz eventually replacing him as Arteta’s go-to striker.
In contrast, the Toon star, who has endured his own injury problems, was able to amass a haul of 25 goals and two assists in 40 appearances and looks set to do even better this year, already hitting 23 goals and five assists in just 33 games.
Appearances
33
36
27
Minutes
2347′
1910′
1204′
Goals
11
8
7
Assists
7
8
2
Goal Involvements per Match
0.54
0.44
0.33
Minutes per Goal Involvement
130.38′
119.37′
133.77′
For his efforts, the Gunners’ forward was only able to score seven goals and provide two assists in his 27 appearances before his ACL injury this season, which is what will keep him at the Emirates this summer.
However, once he is back to full fitness at some point in 2026, Berta and Co need to move him on as soon as they can, as not only is he no longer at the level required to push the team forward, but his bumper contract expires in June 2027, meaning the window to get a decent fee for him will be slight.
Ultimately, Jesus is an undeniably talented footballer, but his inefficiency in front of goal, poor injury record and monster wages mean that he has to be sold by Arsenal as soon as they get the chance.
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