The transfer window opened on New Year’s Day, triggering a monthlong scramble to make any final personnel moves that will cover the rest of the Premier League season. For clubs vying for a top spot, it’s a chance to reinforce in the push for a trophy — or multiple. For teams looking to escape relegation, it’s an opportunity to bring in reinforcements to finish the job.
But it’s not just about the movement of players between clubs. Now is the time for clubs to worry about stars approaching the end of their contracts — whether hitting free agency in summer 2026 or 2027 — and extend them on new terms before they are persuaded to join elsewhere.
In this edition of Keep, Dump or Extend, Mark Ogden and Gab Marcotti examine the questions facing Arsenal all fronts, from contract renewals to transfers. Let’s dive in!
Arsenal: Keep, Dump or Extend?
• League position, as of Jan. 2: 1st, 45 points. (Last year’s finish: 2nd, 74 points)
• Realistic goal: Aim to win all four competitions they are alive in, but win at least one
1. Bukayo Saka‘s contract expires in June 2027. Tie him down to a new deal now or wait?
Ogden: I’m amazed that Arsenal still haven’t dealt with this. Saka is arguably their star player, a product of the club’s academy and the prime example of everything Arsenal claim to stand for, but they are taking a huge risk if they allow him to enter the final 12 months of his contract. Haven’t they heard of Trent Alexander-Arnold at the Emirates?
Saka is 24 and the best clubs in Europe will line up to take him in the summer or in 2027. Arsenal simply have to get this done ASAP.
Marcotti: It’s hard to imagine him elsewhere, but — and I say this without any inside info on Saka — you can see a scenario where Arsenal win the league or Champions League, he gets an attractive offer and talks about a new challenge somewhere else.
It’s possible they’ve reached an agreement in principle and simply haven’t announced it officially because they want to get maximum exposure. You hope that’s the case. Because as loyal as he is to the club, nobody likes being taken for granted.
2. Kai Havertz is ready to return. Does he play, or should Mikel Arteta keep faith with Viktor Gyökeres?
Ogden: Havertz and Gyökeres are obviously two forwards with very different profiles, but I don’t think you can play them together unless it is the final 10 minutes of a game and you’re flooding the zone with attackers in order to score a goal.
Havertz is a very talented player — though frustrating at times, he has a knack of scoring big goals in big games. Gyökeres is only scoring against the Premier League’s also-rans and he isn’t doing it very often, so it’s an easy answer in my opinion: Drop Gyökeres and go with Havertz.
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Marcotti: I’m a Havertz guy, so to me it’s a no-brainer, but I imagine it will depend on the opposition. I think they can definitely play together, though that would be at the expense of other, better options, so that’s not a route to go down.
More interesting, I think, is how Arsenal should play it going forward. If Havertz is fit and Arteta still picks Gyökeres ahead of him in most games, then you have to wonder about the wisdom of having your highest-paid player on the bench. He has a deal through 2028, and he’s 27 this summer. If he’s not going to start, I think it makes to shift him — ideally off the back of a successful World Cup.
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3. Mikel Arteta’s contract ends at the end of next season. Is his future dependent on winning a trophy?
Ogden: I think the Arteta skeptics among the fan base need to be careful what they wish for. He has transformed a club that had been drifting for over a decade under Arsene Wenger and put Arsenal back in contention for everything.
While they haven’t won a trophy yet, Arteta has made incredible progress. The club should end the talk of him needing to win a trophy this season by handing him a new contract.
Marcotti: They can wait until June if they like, but Arteta has already proven himself even if they don’t win a trophy. I think you have to extend him, even if only by a year or two. It’s not just because of what you see on the pitch; it’s the way he has represented the club and managed the dressing room, too.
4. Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Jesus and Christian Nørgaard are all out of contract in 2027, like Saka. Should any be extended in January?
Ogden: Martinelli and Nørgaard have one-year options on their contracts, so there is no rush with those two, while Trossard and Jesus are both likely to be available for transfer this summer. Nørgaard has barely played since arriving from Brentford six months, so club and player will likely part company before his deal expires.
Martinelli is the tricky one — Arsenal will want to keep him, but he’ll be 25 next summer and might decide he doesn’t play enough games to justify staying at the Emirates. He always makes an impact when he comes off the bench, but less so when he starts, so I suspect there will be a parting of ways ahead.
Marcotti: Trossard has been hugely productive, and he’s happy to be a squad player. If he keeps getting minutes, he should be rewarded with an extra year.
Nørgaard arrived to do a specific job, and he has done it when called upon. He’s the only option off the bench in that role anyway, so of course you keep him.
Gabriel Jesus would have to perform miracles to make me want to keep him. He makes too much money and there are better, younger options already there. Arsenal should keep an open mind, but start easing him out.
As for Martinelli, he’s very much playing for his Arsenal future. With Trossard and Noni Madueke around (and Max Dowman coming through the pipeline) there are only so many minutes available. Unless he does something to convince Arsenal he’s irreplaceable, they have to start laying the groundwork to shift him this summer.
5. Do Arsenal need to do any player trading in January?
Ogden: Arsenal did a lot of business during the summer, with deals such as Nørgaard’s and Piero Hincapié‘s going under the radar due to the money spent on forwards such as Gyökeres, Eberechi Eze and Madueke.
Their squad is stacked in every position, and they have Havertz due back from injury, so I really don’t see the value in short-term fixes to cover short-term injuries.
Marcotti: Everybody in Arteta’s preferred XI has a viable alternative off the bench who can do a similar job (except Declan Rice, because there’s no such thing as an off-brand Rice; he’s unique). That’s a positive if Arteta can man-manage his way through it, and so far he has.
However, I think you have to think of player pathways and development. Ethan Nwaneri is 18, has a long-term deal and yet will likely end up playing significantly less than a year ago. He has yet to start a league game after staring 11 last year). Fullback Myles Lewis-Skelly, 19, also signed a big long-term deal and has started one league match after making 15 starts last season.
I think it’s logical to see if you can send them somewhere that will take care of them, allow them to grow and have them return as better players than they are now. It’s a tough sell to the players themselves, but if you can show there’s a pathway into the first team, it’s worth doing.
