Arsenal director Edu’s plans to spend big in the January transfer window could be threatened by the club’s failure to qualify for the Champions League at the end of last season. The Gunners parted ways with over £130million to strengthen their ranks over the summer and have been tipped to splash the cash once again in the mid-season market as they look to prepare for the all-important Premier League run-in.
The outcome of the January window is likely to prove crucial in keeping Arsenal’s title hopes alive, with the Gunners currently leading the league by a slender margin of just two points. However, they could end up kicking themselves over their inability to secure a top-four finish at the end of last season, with their lack of Champions League football set to hit them in the pocket.
According to football finance expert Swiss Ramble, Arsenal will receive a small profit of £3.1m from their successful Europa League group stage campaign, which includes £550,000 for each victory and a sum of £956,000 for progressing to the knockout stages as Group A winners. This figure amounts to Arsenal making around £6.8million in revenue from the competition, which represents a welcome boost in comparison to last season without any European football at the club.
However, the money gained by Arsenal is dwarfed by the earnings up for grabs in the Champions League, with Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City already said to have pocketed around £70m each from this season’s edition of the tournament. Tottenham have also cashed in to the tune of £55m, which could see Arsenal facing an uphill battle if they end up battling their Premier League rivals for signings in the January window.
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The north Londoners will be losing out on up to £63m in revenue just from the group stages in comparison to the British clubs in the Champions League, although it remains to be seen whether this will pose any major issues for Edu when the transfer market reopens in January. The situation will only draw further attention to Arsenal’s bid to return to Europe’s top-flight club competition next season, which could give them a significant boost in a year’s time if they manage to get the job done at the end of the campaign.
A number of exciting targets have been linked with Arsenal in advance of the January window, including the likes of Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha and Leicester City midfielder Youri Tielemans, who will both be out of contract at the end of the season as things stand. It remains to be seen which direction Edu will decide to go in, though, as he looks to work his magic to add some extra quality to Mikel Arteta’s ranks over the coming weeks and months.
DON’T MISS
Arsenal have already been urged to improve their options in the middle of the park in January by former Tottenham ace Jermaine Jenas, who believes that Arteta would reap the rewards of signing a suitable back-up for Thomas Partey in the engine room.
“You can’t rely on him,” Jenas told Vibe with Five. “If I was Edu that would be the first position I’m going for in January, or the summer [transfer window], because you can’t rely on him.
“He is very important and you see the difference when he’s in there. But the minute this thing starts to crumble, that position, [Gabriel] Jesus, and you end up with [Eddie] Nketiah, Fabio Vieira, this is a different game we’re talking about.”
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