Selling well is something Arsenal have been accused of failing to do for some time now.
You can point to the examples of Aaron Ramsey, Serge Gnabry and Donyell Malen to name but a few players in recent years who the Gunners could undoubtedly have extracted more value from in the transfer market if they had shown a bit more savvy.
But hindsight is a wonderful thing and know exactly when to sell players so as to fetch a maximum fee is something several clubs struggle with.
This summer though Arsenal face yet another tricky dilemma as they decide whether to stick or twist on the future of Joe Willock.
The 21-year-old ended his loan spell with Newcastle last season in emphatic fashion becoming the youngest player in Premier League history to score in seven consecutive matches.
Goals from midfield is something Arsenal have really struggled for in recent his season, and in his brief spurt towards the end of the season Willock was able notch a tally higher than that of Mohamed Elneny, Granit Xhaka, Dani Ceballos, Thomas Partey, Emile Smith Rowe and Martin Odegaard combined for the whole of the league campaign.
Unsurprisingly this form led Mikel Arteta to publicly declare that he wanted to keep the Hale Ender at the club, and intended to use him in the future.
"Well for sure because he’s got a contract and he’s going to be here, so that’s for sure," said the Spaniard after being quizzed on if the 21-year-old would be staying."
"He will be back with us, we will have those conversations with him and plan the next years for him," he went on to add.
While there can be no doubting what Willock offers to this Arsenal side though, it can be difficult to see exactly where he will fit as a regular starter.
Despite some rumours that he might switch his side to his preferred 4-3-3 this campaign, Arteta has largely stuck to a 4-2-3-1 this pre-season.
When trying to fit Willock into that system in the first half of last the season the Spaniard used the youngster as a number 10, although it would seem he doesn't quite possess the skill set required to thrive in that role.
For all his goal-scoring prowess, the 21-year-old's ability on the ball leaves a little to be desired. His attempted passes per 90 tally of 30.51 leaves him in just the third percentile of the statistic among players in his position across the last 365 days, while his record of 2.6 progressive passes per game puts him in just the 15th.
Arteta wants a number 10 who has an eye for a pass and is capable of linking the midfield and attack and, sadly, the Hale Ender doesn't quite fit the bill.
The Spaniard's desires in the position were reflected by his decision to use Smith Rowe there after Christmas and to later sign Odegaard on loan from Real Madrid as competition.
The fact that Arsenal are back in to buy Odegaard permanently this summer and that they are also trying to sign Leicester's James Maddison would suggest there hasn't been much change on that front.
The argument could be made that Willock could be used as one of the deeper lying midfield players, but again it's difficult to see quite how he fits into Arteta's system.
Despite initially looking like he would leave to join Roma, Granit Xhaka is now set to stay and will likely resume his role of dropping into the left half space alongside the two centre backs to cover the attack-minded Kieran Tierney or his understudy Nuno Tavares.
Arteta has experimented with using Mohamed Elneny in this position in pre-season so far, but to ask Willock to do the role would restrict the attacking parts of his game that make him such an effective player.
The other midfield position usually occupied by Thomas Partey is admittedly more box-to-box, but Arteta wants a player capable of playing line-breaking passes from deep as we saw the Ghanaian do consistently against Chelsea on Sunday before his injury. It is for this reason that the positive midfield presence of Albert Sambi Lokonga has been added to the squad.
As we have already established Willock is not capable of doing this on a regular basis.
The argument could be made that the Hale Ender could be kept around the squad as a sort of 'hail Mary' player whose chaotic presence in the box could be used late in games with fine margins.
But with Newcastle reportedly willing to offer up to £25 million for the 21-year-old perhaps now may be the best time to sell to help fund other transfers this summer.
football.london understands that Willock was one of the players proposed in a potential swap deal with Leicester for Maddison, and this would seem to suggest that Arsenal have decided they are willing to part with their academy graduate this summer.
It would be with a heavy heart, but perhaps for both parties it may be the time to move on.
