Sokratis & two Arsenal players that will be axed for not fitting Arteta’s philosophy

Arsenal appointed Mikel Arteta as their new first team head coach at the end of 2019 and he has had an impressive start to life as a manager as the gunners have only lost two matches while keeping more clean sheets than they were getting before he arrived. Arsenal will probably be looking to sell players in the summer that seem to not fit Arteta’s philosophy and so let’s dive into it.

1. SOKRATIS PAPASTATHOPOULOS

Sokratis Papastathopoulos joined Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund in the 2018 summer transfer window and he had a wonderful first season at the Emirates Stadium as he was their best centre back during the 2018/19 campaign. Sokratis has however been poor this season but aside from all that, he is an old school defender that isn’t great on the ball and doesn’t fit into a team that wants to play possession football which is something that Arteta wants to bring at the Emirates Stadium.

Sokratis is also old and so that’s why the gunners won’t be reluctant to keep him in the summer and Arteta valuing ball playing ability was evident in these few months of his managing as Shkodran Mustafi was preferred over the Greek international since he’s better on the ball.

2. LUCAS TORREIRA

BURNLEY, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 02: Lucas Torreira of Arsenal is challenged by Ashley Westwood of Burnley during the Premier League match between Burnley FC and Arsenal FC at Turf Moor on February 02, 2020 in Burnley, United Kingdom. (Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Lucas Torreira joined Arsenal in 2018 and he was impressive in his first season at the club as the fans thought that they had finally found the defensive midfielder that they’ve requested for years. Torreira has however fallen off this season due to clashes with Unai Emery over what position suits him best but even though he is a great defensive minded player, he still might not be what Mikel Arteta wants in his side.

It is believed that Arteta wants to build a squad full of attacking minded players that are great at passing and Torreira is however very wasteful with possession as he is usually better when used as a destroyer that will continually try to stop attacks from the opponents. Arteta is however building a team that will be dominating possession and so it’s no surprise that Ceballos started over Torreira in recent games because the new Arsenal boss doesn’t need a destroyer in his team.

3. MOHAMED ELNENY

LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 26: Mohamed Elneny of Arsenal gestures during the Carabao Cup Third Round match between Arsenal and Brentford at Emirates Stadium on September 26, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images)

Mohamed Elneny joned Arsenal in the 2016 January transfer window and he has in that period failed to get a consistent run of games in the starting eleven under two managers and so he will probably also not be able to get in Arteta’s side since low amount of football over the years has seen him become poor as the club even decided to just loan him to Beşiktaş.