Arsenal should consider bids of a specific amount for experienced attacker Leandro Trossard due to a "pressing need" to balance the books, expert Charles Watts has told Sports Mole.
While the transfer windows in England, Europe's top five leagues and Saudi Arabia are now closed, teams in the Turkish Super Lig can bring in new players until Friday, September 12, and Trossard has been heavily linked with a switch to the Anatolia peninsula.
Besiktas are understood to have taken an interest in the former Brighton & Hove Albion winger, but it has now been reported that Trossard will stay at Arsenal, where he recently signed a new contract with a salary increase to reflect his standing in the squad.
However, speaking to Sports Mole, Watts expressed his view that Arsenal have enough attacking numbers to cope without Trossard, whose prospective sale could generate some much-needed funds.
“I don't think it was a no-brainer [to keep him]. If there was a good offer on the table, if I was in charge, I would have certainly considered it. There's enough strength in depth to cope with his exit," Watts said.
Arsenal have "pressing need" for money amid Trossard transfer links
Arsenal's Leandro Trossard reacts on April 29, 2025
“I wouldn't have been pushing him out the door; he's a really useful player, but there has to be a fairly pressing need for Arsenal to bring some money in.
“But Arsenal are very happy with Leandro Trossard. Mikel Arteta is definitely very happy with Leandro Trossard. His fitness record is impeccable. Mikel loves that; being available is so important.”
Arsenal's well-documented selling problems came to the fore once again during the summer transfer window, where despite spending less than Chelsea and Liverpool, they recorded the highest net spend of any Premier League team by far.
The Gunners only brought in circa £12.6m through the sales of Marquinhos (£3m), Albert Sambi Lokonga (£2.5m) and Nuno Tavares (£7.6m), while Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jakub Kiwior, Reiss Nelson and Fabio Vieira departed on loan ahead of expected permanent exits in 2026.
Trossard was a £20.8m purchase - potentially rising to £27m - in January 2023, the same window that Arsenal lost out to Chelsea for the signature of Mykhaylo Mudryk, but the Belgian has upstaged his Ukrainian counterpart with 28 goals and 23 assists in 125 games for the Gunners in all competitions.
How much is Trossard worth?
Arsenal's Leandro Trossard reacts after being sent off on September 21, 2024
However, as the attacker is now in his 30s and has two years remaining on his contract, Watts believes that offers of £20m would represent an acceptable amount for his departure, even if the Gunners would make a slight loss.
"I can't imagine you'd get more than that for a player of his age," Watts added. "And he's on decent wages as well. So it would be difficult for a lot of teams across Europe to bring him in.
“If you're getting £20m back after two and a half years of really good service, you'd have to consider that a pretty good deal.”
Trossard enjoyed his most productive Premier League campaign in 2024-25 with 16 goal contributions - eight of his own and eight assists - and he did not miss a single top-flight match for Arteta's side in the last full season.
The 30-year-old has been an unused substitute in two of Arsenal's first three games in 2025-26, though, and he is expected to be among the substitutes again when the Gunners host Nottingham Forest in Saturday's early Premier League kickoff.
> Click here to listen to the full discussion on Trossard's Arsenal future
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