June 30 is a very important date in the football calendar with a number of players leaving clubs following the expiration of their contracts.
Players who have been released by teams will then be free to sign for another club with contracts starting on July 1.
Earlier in the month, Arsenal confirmed their released list and fans will have spotted and discussed the number of familiar names that will be departing the Emirates Stadium today.
Arguably the most high-profile name on the list is that of David Luiz, who leaves following a couple of seasons in north London after joining from Chelsea in the summer of 2019.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta paid tribute to the Brazilian after the announcement.
“We had very clear talks in the last few months," he said. "We already had a big decision to make last year when we had to extend his contract during the Covid world, the pay cuts and everything.
"We managed to extend that for one more season.
"He's given his best: I tried to help him as much as I possibly could and the club did as well. After some conversations, we decided it’s the best way to do it now."
As well as Luiz, there are as many as eight players across the men's and women's teams who will be leaving the club today - including Martin Odegaard whose loan spell from Real Madrid officially ends today.
Here are the players who will be leaving Arsenal on June 30, 2021:
Men’s and women’s first-team squads:
Dani Ceballos
David Luiz
Leonie Maier
Martin Odegaard
Mat Ryan
Men’s under-18 and under-23 squads:
Levi Laing
Joseph Olowu
Luke Plange
Jason Sraha
