Fansided

Three Arsenal players set to leave club in the summer

ByAnthony Gallo|
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 15: Mikel Arteta of Arsenal is congratulated by team mates after scoring to make it 4-0 during the Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium on May 15, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 15: Mikel Arteta of Arsenal is congratulated by team mates after scoring to make it 4-0 during the Barclays Premier League match between Arsenal and Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium on May 15, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)


Three Arsenal players are set to leave the North London club after their contracts expire next month.

After a combined 621 appearances for Arsenal, captain Mikel Arteta, Tomas Rosicky and Mathieu Flamini are set to leave Arsenal this summer. After their 4-0 win over Aston Villa in the last match of the season, Arteta greeted the home fans with a round of applause and a tearful exit, as he played his last match of professional soccer.

"Emotional scenes at the Emirates as @m8arteta receives a standing ovation from the fans #AFCvAVFChttps://t.co/uyKWBcIey1— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) May 15, 2016"

Fans already knew that Arteta was playing his last game with Arsenal, after his contract was set to expire at the end of the summer. The Guardian is reporting that the 34-year-old has called it a career and will consider a coaching position. The news outlet also mentioned that Arsenal, Manchester City and even bitter rival Tottenham have offered the Spaniard a coaching role.

Arteta told the Guardian: “It is very hard to stop but I wanted to leave it. I wanted to decide, and I thought for the last few months that I wasn’t good enough to represent this club on the pitch.

“You have to accept it. It has been a long time for me to be playing football and I didn’t want to cheat them or anyone. It is time. I want to leave it like this and we will see what happens.”

As for Rosicky. The 35-year-old Czech Republic captain hasn’t officially retired yet, but the club took to twitter to say goodbye to a player that represented the club for 10 years, and was given an award for appearing in over 240 games for the North London club.

As for Flamini, the 32-year-old made 225 appearances for Arsenal from 2004-2008 and again from 2013-2016. The club re-signed him up from Italian club AC Milan in 2013.

Flamini’s future is still undecided as well, as he still has plenty more to offer. It was reported by the Daily Star that newly promoted side Middlesbrough were interested in signing the Frenchmen. It remains to be seen whether Flamini wants to retire or continue playing.

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