Paul Mariner gives the names of five players Arsenal should sell

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Former Arsenal striker Paul Mariner believes the Gunners should be looking to move on Mesut Ozil, Sead Kolasinac, Calum Chambers, Granit Xhaka and Shkodran Mustafi.

The 66-year-old, who had a couple of seasons at Highbury in the late 1980s, was giving his verdict on ESPN’s Transfer Rater show.

He believes Unai Emery’s squad isn’t currently up to scratch, and delivered some pretty cutting assessments as he explained why each individual should be sold.

Speaking about Mustafi, he said: “You look at his gear when he’s playing football, his shorts are absolutely full of grass stains and mud – he’s always on his backside, he doesn’t know how to defend properly. He’s got to go.”

On Xhaka, he added: “I think he went way too far with what he did with the crowd, I think he’s done at the football club. Talking on the football side, I don’t know what he brings to the table, I really don’t. Go.”

He then described Ozil as ‘a shadow of his former self’, Chambers as merely ‘a squad player’, and Kolasinac as ‘an okay full-back’ but inferior to new signing Kieran Tierney.

TBR’s view – Fair assessments

It’s hard to argue against any of Mariner’s verdicts.

Many fans have wanted Xhaka and Mustafi gone for a while now with both having shown the capacity for making points-costing errors.

The Gunners can most definitely upgrade on those two players.

Ozil’s form has undeniably plummeted since he got his new contract in January 2018, and Kolasinac is a downgrade on Tierney.

Perhaps his view of Chambers is a little harsh, as the Englishman was arguably been Arsenal’s most consistent defender so far this season, and he does deserve credit for playing right-back and centre-half.