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LONDON. — Arsene Wenger is adamant he must cut down his Arsenal squad in the remaining days of the transfer window. The Gunners currently have 31 first-team players on their books and Wenger insists his squad is too big. Kieran Gibbs, Lucas Perez, Carl Jenkinson, and Mathieu Debuchy are among the names expected to leave before deadline day. Wenger has hinted he would be open to signing more new players this summer but he has to get some out of the door first. Following their 1-0 defeat at Stoke on Saturday, Wenger said: “I expect to sell players first (before we buy). We have too many and it is not manageable.

“We have 31, that’s too many. But I am not after a game like that in transfer mode.”

Arsenal suffered their first loss of the new Premier League season after Jese netted a debut goal to give Stoke victory at the bet365 Stadium.

On the clash, Wenger said: “It’s a difficult defeat to swallow. — The Daily Star.