Unai Emery's attempts to establish a new rule at Arsenal has hit a stumbling block after he was told senior players will have to be sold in order to trim the wage bill.
A raft of new signings over the last six months and Mesut Ozil's new £300,000-a-week deal has seen the annual bill balloon well over £200million and left the club struggling to keep within Premier League financial fair play regulations.
As a result, the Gunners are looking to offload some deadwood before the transfer deadline shuts across Europe on August 31.
Sportsmail runs the rule over those players most at risk of being sold...
Mohamed Elneny - £55,000 per week
The Egyptian midfielder has cut a reputation as a reliable workhorse since joining from Basle in 2016 for a modest fee of £5m and was rewarded with a new long-term contract in March.
However, Elneny appears to be a victim of the change in regime at the Emirates with Emery opting to bring in two similar players in the form of Matteo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira.
An unused substitute against Manchester City, Elneny doesn't appear to be at the forefront of Emery's plans and that makes him an easy target for the cost-cutters in north London.
Marseille are interested in bringing him to France and have until August 31 to agree a transfer. Arsenal can expect to make a tidy profit on their original outlay as well.
Danny Welbeck - £70,000 per week
Turning 28 in November, Welbeck is running out of time to fulfill the potential he once showed at Manchester United. He won't do it if he remains Arsenal's third-choice striker behind Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette.
The England international was free to leave the Emirates Stadium for the right price over the course of the transfer window but failed to generate the required interest from Premier League clubs.
Now, he faces the choice of a move abroad or a season making up the numbers at Arsenal. With his contract expiring in 2019, Arsenal also face the prospect of losing him for nothing next summer.
David Ospina - £40,000 per week
Bernd Leno's £20million arrival from Bayer Leverkusen appeared to be the final nail in the coffin for Ospina.
The Colombia international seems to have been linked with a move away from Arsenal since the day he arrived from Nice in 2014, but remains on the books.
He has been a useful second-choice to Petr Cech over the last four years, but is now third in the pecking order and has little to no chance of playing if he does not seal a move away.
Besiktas have been attempting to negotiate a deal and are closing in a season-long loan with an option to buy next summer.
Joel Campbell - £30,000 per week
Those impressive performances at the 2014 World Cup seem a long time ago for the Costa Rica winger now. An Arsenal player since 2011, it has become painfully clear that a career spent primarily on loan has severely hampered his development.
Indeed, the 26-year-old has had six loan spells with five different clubs. He was little more than a squad player at Real Betis last season and has been long forgotten about by the Arsenal hierarchy.
Having signed for just £1m, Arsenal have little to lose by allowing him to leave for a trivial figure and have been in contact with Serie A newcomers Frosinone. However, the window in Italy shuts this Friday, leaving little time for a deal to be complete.
Carl Jenkinson - £45,000 per week
Jenkinson is one of only two players from that famous British quintet to still be on the books but, unlike Aaron Ramsey, the right-back appears to be an Arsenal player in name only.
The 26-year-old was developing into a good player when he was handed a long-term deal alongside Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Ramsey, but has since seen his progress halted by injury and ill-form.
A serious knee injury in 2015 proved to be a massive setback and a dislocated shoulder during last season's loan spell at Birmingham once again put paid to his efforts to rekindle his best form.
Hector Bellerin and Stephan Lichtsteiner will block Jenkinson's path to the first-team at Arsenal and he is expected to seal a loan move to a Championship club before the deadline on August 31.
However, very few clubs in the second-tier will be willing and able to take on his wages.
