Arsenal legend Charlie Nicholas expects Mikel Arteta to dismantle his Arsenal squad this summer as the manager continues his rebuild.
The Gunners endured a tricky campaign but finished on a high by overcoming Chelsea to win the FA Cup, a triumph which has secured them Europa League football next season.
And the manager is expected to bolster his attacking ranks this summer, with Chelsea playmaker Willian and Barcelona outcast Philippe Coutinho linked with moves.
But, according to Nicholas, it is defence where Arteta needs to strengthen.
Nicholas told Off The Ball : "William Saliba has signed and will start the new campaign which is great. He’s young, he’s fast but he’s still slightly naive when I watched him playing for Saint-Etienne.
"But we need two more centre-backs and I do believe we need a right-back. No disrespect but I think Sokratis’ [Papastathopoulos] time is up, I know [Shkodran] Mustafi’s injured so we can’t sell but I think his time is up.
"Rob Holding I think has been unfairly treated because it’s not his fault they couldn’t make him better. Can he reach the heights that I expected him to get to? I’m not sure so if an offer comes in, I would sell him.
"Arsenal’s masterplan has to be two centre-backs, cover in case Kieran Tierney were to get injured again – Kolasinac fits that but he’s not a natural defender – and then I see seven or eight players getting sold."
It remains to be seen whether Arteta will bolster his defensive ranks, with several attackers being linked to the Emirates instead.
Asked about the rumours linking the likes of Willian, Coutinho and Jack Grealish to Arsenal, Nicholas added: "Sometimes they discouraged me, I have to be honest.
"In terms of Willian, he’s a free agent so you can get him on the cheap, you give him a big salary and say: “Right, are you good enough?”
"This guy is a quality player, I don’t deny that but his age… and I look at people like [Reiss] Nelson, like [Bukayo] Saka that want to come into the team and do well and [Gabriel] Martinelli when he comes back will be a centre-forward so I don’t really see where the purchase makes sense to Arsenal.
"Willian as a free agent? Yeah, I can get one that because you want to build up a big squad and I expect Arsenal to offload maybe seven or eight players and it could be more."
