Darren Bent believes Arsenal should’ve sold a key member of Mikel Arteta’s squad over the summer.
The Gunners prioritised acquiring players in the transfer window, as Andrea Berta spent over £250 million on eight new signings.
Viktor Gyokeres arrived for £63 million from Sporting CP, while the likes of Noni Madueke, Eberechi Eze and Martín Zubimendi also joined the North Londoners for significant fees.
Meanwhile, Berta left sanctioning departures to deadline day, and Arteta has subsequently been left with a deep, but arguably bloated, squad.
Darren Bent says Arsenal should’ve sold Leandro Trossard over the summer
Arsenal offered Leandro Trossard a pay rise shortly before the end of the transfer window.
The Belgian accepted, although he now finds himself further down the pecking order than he might like, after the arrivals of Eze and Madueke.
That said, the ‘underrated’ Trossard did score off the bench for Arsenal against Athletic Club in the Champions League on Tuesday night, reminding Arteta that he’s still a valuable player to have in the squad.
This impact in Bilbao hasn’t convinced Darren Bent that the Gunners made the right decision regarding the winger’s future.
Speaking on talkSPORT on Wednesday, Bent claimed that Arsenal should have sold Trossard, instead of offering him fresh and more lucrative terms.
“Trossard, I think Arsenal should have sold him,” he said.
“They gave him the new contract. Fair play. They didn’t think they were going to get Eze at the time. They needed cover in that position. He got the contract, and then Eze came up.”
Eberechi Eze’s arrival was separate from Leandro Trossard’s contract
While Bent’s assumption that Trossard was offered a new deal before the Eze signing became possible would make logical sense, it doesn’t seem that this is how events in N5 transpired.
The Belgium international was reportedly promised a better deal months ago, and the Gunners were merely willing to stick to their word on this front, regardless of their transfer activity.
News that Trossard had agreed a new contract came just days before Eze’s move to the Emirates emerged in the public sphere.
There is little to no chance that Berta and Arteta weren’t already plotting to sign Eze at that point, and thus, it would seem that the two transactions weren’t mutually exclusive.
It’s clear that Arteta was merely intent on having as deep a squad as possible.
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