Arsenal: Europa League about much more than Arsene Wenger

Arsenal are deadset on giving Arsene Wenger the send-off he deserves with one last trophy, but there is a growing list of reasons why it matters beyond that.

Arsenal’s Europa League conquest has evolved over the course of the season. It started as a fun side project, then gradually grew to become their only plausible way of getting back into the Champions League.

Then, with the announcement that Arsene Wenger is leaving, it became the send-off that he deserves given how much he has done for this club over his 22 years here.

But buried beneath the sentimentality, there arose another, yet more pertinent reason that the Europa League mattered. Not a new one, rather, but an added impetus on an old one, and one that could very well serve as the hinge between a quick transition back to success, and a slow, drawn-out one.

Last summer, we saw just how important Arsene Wenger is to attracting big-name players. Without the Champions League, the draw of playing for Wenger was still enough to draw in Champions League caliber players like Alexandre Lacazette.

What frightens me greatly is the idea of going into this summer with no Wenger and not Champions League. That is the kind of prospect that, when coupled with a managerial list with a significant lack of high-octane names, becomes a bit of a problem.

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I want a young, energetic, hungry manager more than a Carlo Ancelotti. But if we don’t have Champions League football and we are trying to attract the big name players we need with the likes of Mikel Arteta? That may become something of an unwinnable situation.

The worst possible fate for this club would be to get mired in such league positions going forward because of the inability to draw players with the glitz and glamor of playing under Wenger or playing in the Champions League. Those are the two biggest Arsenal draws.

Now, granted, with Raul Sanllehi in charge and Mesut Ozil still here, it will still be an attractive destination, but the return to success must be swift and convincing, or that magic will wear off awfully quickly.

It’s a precarious situation, as it always figured to be, given everything that factors into it. Thankfully, the players understand this as well and, ideally, that understanding will breed positive performances in the final three matches of the Europa League.

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After that, the world can return to normal, with minimal stress. Which will be a welcome change to a perpetually stressed fan base.

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