"He’s killing you" - Edu says 80% of Arsenal's squad was filled with underperforming stars on inflated wages

Arsenal are have been undergoing a rebuild under Mikel Arteta, which has seen them part ways with a number of established names over the last couple of seasons. The club's sporting director, Edu, has opened up on why the Gunners decided to offload some of their top superstars.

Barcelona striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Istanbul Basaksehir playmaker Mesut Ozil led the list of popular figures who were discarded by the Premier League giants.

Explaining the reason behind the move, Edu opened up on how some players became comfortable with high wages at the Emirates Stadium. He stated that these players weren't producing performances to match their pay.

During a chat with reporters during Arsenal’s pre-season tour of the United States, Edu said, as quoted by The Evening Standard:

“If a guy is performing and has a big salary, that's not a problem. When the player is 26-plus, big salary and he’s not performing, he’s killing you. You don’t have a valuation to sell the player, the player is comfortable — Arsenal, London, beautiful, everything is fantastic — and a good salary."

The Gunners' sporting director went ahead to reveal that up to 80% of the players at the club fell in this category. He also hinted that some of these players were offloaded to make way for others in the team. Edu continued:

“How many players with that kind of characteristics did we have in the past? 80 percent of the squad. Try to avoid one more year with the problem in the dressing room. Take it out. Even if you have to pay because that guy is sometimes blocking someone."

Arsenal progressing with squad rebuild

Aubameyang was allowed to leave for Barcelona in January.

After letting go of a number of key figures in recent seasons, Arsenal are now working hard to reinforce their squad. The Gunners have been one of the most active clubs in the market this summer, luring a couple of vital players to the Emirates Stadium.

So far, the Gunners have signed Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City. They have also added the likes of Fabio Vieira, Matt Turner and Marquinhos to the group.