Four Arsenal players enter final contract year ahead of a pivotal summer window

Arsenal must resolve the futures of four first-team players this summer after Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli and Christian Norgaard moved to within a year of their contracts expiring at the end of the 2026/27 season.

The decisions fall to manager Mikel Arteta and sporting director Andrea Berta as they shape the squad for a campaign in which Arsenal are expected to enter as Premier League champions and will be targeting a return to the Champions League final, having been beaten by Paris Saint-Germain in Budapest at the weekend.

Marginelli and Norgaard are understood to have 12-month extension clauses in their contracts that the club can activate unilaterally, giving Arsenal an additional layer of control over those two situations. Trossard and Jesus do not appear to have the same provision, and both have already been linked with potential departures ahead of the window opening.

Norgaard is the most recent arrival of the four, having joined from Brentford last summer in a £12 million deal. The Danish midfielder made 20 appearances in his debut season at the club.

With contracts entering their final year, clubs typically face a straightforward choice: agree a renewal, sell while a fee can still be commanded, or risk losing the player on a free transfer. Arsenal’s decision on each of the four will likely hinge on their broader recruitment priorities this summer.

Journalist David Ornstein outlined those priorities on Saturday, noting that a centre-forward and a left-sided attacker are among the club’s main targets. “The No.9 position is interesting,” Ornstein said. “A penny for the thoughts of Victor Gyokeres tonight — his first season, and he helped them to this final and then was put on the bench. Then the left-sided attack is a big priority for them, and they’ve been looking at it for a few years, and I think this may be the summer where they really go for something. They’ve got the options there.”

How Arsenal balance potential outgoings against those incoming targets will define much of their transfer window activity over the coming months.