“I wouldn’t have signed the players we signed in the winter.”
The words of former Schalke boss Christian Gross when asked by Swiss outlet Blick after his dismissal from the German club how he would have changed some of his own decisions at the club with the benefit of hindsight. Words that hit home for two of Arsenal's then loanees.
Specifically, the former head coach of then soon to be relegated Schalke was speaking about both Shkodran Mustafi and Sead Kolasinac. The former left Arsenal when his contract expired at the end of the season, joining Levante in Spain this campaign where he has been in and out of the side. Kolasinac remains an Arsenal player but perhaps not for too much longer.
The Bosnian international is reportedly linked with a move to Ligue 1 side Marseille. The French club is said to be interested in a move according to Daily Mail reporter Sami Mokbel.
Were a deal to go through, Kolasinac would join up with former teammates Matteo Guendouzi and William Saliba. A pair of players with seemingly very different Arsenal futures but similar frustrations under Mikel Arteta.
Both were not used by the Spanish coach for differing reasons. Guendouzi’s last game came at the end of the 2019/20 season after an altercation with Brighton’s Neal Maupay.
After being given a number of opportunities to apologise for his actions, the young Frenchman left on loan to Hertha Berlin last season before joining OM on a similar deal except with a clause for the move to become permanent in the summer of 2022.
Saliba joined from Saint-Etienne for a significant fee but was deemed by Arteta to not yet be ready for senior action spending time with the youth side, to Saliba’s frustration, before joining Nice on loan. At OM, Saliba has been a standout player at both the club and in the league.
Fears that Guendouzi’s attitude towards Arsenal would impact Saliba have circulated amongst the fan base. Adding another frustrated Gunner to the group threatens only to strengthen those concerns.
However, the likelihood is that the Bosnian purely just wants to play. Arteta has spoken only in complimentary terms about Kolasinac and even used the Bosnian before he suffered an injury on international duty.
Asked whether his start against West Brom in the League Cup would indicate he would stay before the end of the summer window he replied, “No, it's an indication of every player that is with us, that is training and behaving the way that Sead is.”
“We have the possibility to give them minutes. We want to be fair because that's what we demand to all the players. He's our player and we're treating him in exactly the same way and then we will see what happens.”
Fans therefore need not worry about the possibility of Kolasinac negatively affecting the likelihood of Saliba returning in any different mindset compared to if the 28-year-old were never to arrive at Marseille.
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