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Arsenal's requirement to generate funds in order to finance their pursuit of major trophies could lead the club to accept bids for talented youngsters Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly, according to a new report.
Martín Zubimendi, Viktor Gyökeres, Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke, Cristhian Mosquera, Christian Nørgaard and Kepa Arrizabalaga all joined last summer for a combined outlay exceeding $336 million (£250 million), in addition to the Piero Hincapié loan set to be made permanent for upwards of $60 million.
Meanwhile, the departures of Nuno Tavares, Marquinhos, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Albert Sambi Lokonga generated less than $20 million in total.
BBC Sport highlights the club's pressing need to recover substantial funds this summer. Peripheral figures such as Gabriel Jesus and Ben White are potential sale candidates, but most notably, Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly could also be made available for transfer.
Arsenal view the sale of the homegrown duo as an opportunity to generate more than $130 million on their own.
Arsenal Could Live to Regret Major Exits
The harsh reality of modern football has seen academy prospects increasingly treated as sellable assets rather than future first-team players. Arsenal are far from alone in adopting this mindset—Chelsea, Aston Villa and Newcastle United are among the clubs that have already cashed in on their youth talent, with many others likely to follow.
It is a business approach that draws widespread criticism from supporters, and while fans can be won over when trophies are delivered, there remains a real danger of eroding the sense of "community identity" that clubs work so hard to preserve.
At Arsenal, Bukayo Saka stands as the only established starter in the current first team to have come through the club's academy. Teenage sensation Max Dowman appears on the verge of joining him, yet similar expectations were once placed on both Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly in recent seasons.
For all the buzz surrounding Dowman's rise, it is important to recall that Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly generated comparable excitement during their own academy years. Nwaneri, now 19, was widely regarded as arguably the finest player in England within his age group, while Lewis-Skelly, consistently seen by scouts as the more first-team-ready of the two, was not far behind.
A fixation on immediate results has pushed Arsenal to spend heavily. Nwaneri's role as Saka's understudy was filled by the proven quality of Madueke, while Lewis-Skelly's starting berth at left back was redistributed between Riccardo Calafiori and Hincapié as Mikel Arteta concluded he could no longer absorb the inherent risks of giving young players regular opportunities.
That strategy may well be bearing fruit this season—the Gunners sit atop the Premier League and are considered frontrunners for the Champions League—but it threatens to undermine their long-term prospects as two of England's most highly regarded young players potentially prepare to leave.
Demand for both Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly is unlikely to be lacking. Several of Europe's top clubs were pursuing the former before he signed a new deal, while Lewis-Skelly is already attracting attention from Manchester United.
Exact valuations have yet to be determined for either player, but dividing $130 million between two elite prospects feels remarkably modest given the inflated nature of the English market, where Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers, Nottingham Forest's Elliot Anderson and Crystal Palace's Adam Wharton are each individually tipped to command similar figures.
Rival clubs are expected to eagerly submit offers for the pair, knowing the risk-to-reward ratio is heavily in their favour for two players already considered more than capable at the top level. Arsenal may welcome the financial boost now, but that satisfaction could fade considerably in the years ahead.