Why Carl Jenkinson is really still at Arsenal | OneFootball

Carl Jenkinson, famously, is the last man standing from Arsenal’s fabled British core and while the club have released quite a few players, somehow Carl Jenkinson remains an Arsenal player and has even been pictured in the new kit.

On 30 June 2019, Carl Jenkinson was no longer meant be an Arsenal player but while the likes of Petr Cech, Danny Welbeck and Aaron Ramsey all had contracts that expired at the same time, the latter were formally released by the club.

There has been zero talk about a new deal for Jenkinson, nor should there be. Similarly, there has been little talk of interest from other clubs either.

It’s all very strange.

Except it isn’t when you realise that his contract expires in 2020 not 2019.

Most, I assume, myself included, have been operating from the expiry date given on Transfermarkt. This has been so widely spread it has just become the accepted truth.

But he signed a new five-year deal in 2015 before he moved to West Ham on loan.

The most bananas part of all this is that we turned down £8m for him.

Arsenal are reportedly keen to include Jenkinson in negotiations for Celtic left-back Kieran Tierney, though reports suggest the Scottish club are holding firm on their asking price of £25m.

Football.London reported that Arsenal wanted to get a deal over the line without going too far above their opening bid of £15m. The Gunners have a restricted transfer budget of around £45m, and spending over half of it on one player would damage their pursuit of other targets.

As a result, Arsenal are considering including various players in a swap deal, either permanently or on loan. They’re most keen on packaging Carl Jenkinson into the transfer, and Celtic do have an interest in the right-back.

The Scottish Sun report that Arsenal are offering Tierney a five-year deal worth over £70k-a-week, significantly more than he’s currently earning with Celtic. David Ornstein‘s previous report on the subject suggested personal terms wouldn’t be a problem.

Imagine turning down £8m for Carl Jenkinson in 2015.