The departures of Aaron Ramsey, Petr Cech and Danny Welbeck will mark the start of a major overhaul of the Arsenal squad under Unai Emery as the club shaves up to £17m off their bloated wage bill.

Ramsey, Cech and Welbeck are all among the highest earners at Arsenal, where the wage bill is running at an annual record high of more than £220m.

Arsenal’s desperation to trim the wage bill was a major factor in their decision to allow both Ramsey and Welbeck to leave the club for free. Ramsey currently earns around £110,000-a-week, with Welbeck believed to be earning £115,000-a-week and Cech, who is retiring, taking home around £100,000-a-week.

Arsenal will only have around £40m to spend on transfers this summer if they do not qualify for next season’s Champions League, which can realistically only now be achieved via winning the Europa League. The trimming of the wage bill, though, will give them more room to manoeuvre in the long-term.

The departures of three senior figures will be seen as a step towards redressing the balance of the wage bill, where Arsenal’s highest earners are all in the latter stages of their careers.