Arsenal: 4 reasons why losing out on top four would be majorly disappointing

3. Arsenal’s Squad is Perfectly Set Up for Champions League Spending

The work undertaken over the January transfer window raised eyebrows. Many of those eyebrows are still closer to scalps than they are to eyes, and many more will rise again if the decision not to invest comes back to haunt Arsenal in the league.

Allowing six players to leave without any coming in, the absence of a striker available who the club were willing to secure meant no centre-forward was brought in, which was is the riskiest of all.

But if this plan works and Arsenal do get into the Champions League places, then the squad is perfectly set up for it.

The wage bill has been trimmed immensely across recent windows, with Arteta also reducing his group of players down to 20 senior options. That streamlined squad is only going to decrease in size as well, with three players seeing their deals expire at the end of the season.

There will be further investment in the squad over the summer, and those spaces can be filled with Champions League quality footballers. The calibre of player finishing in the top four attracts will be transformative to this project, and the spaces both in the squad and in the wage bill are there to be taken.

Add to that further departures expected for various fees – Leno, Pepe, Bellerin, Torreira, Runarsson, Maitland-Niles, Mari, Nelson, Mavropanos, Guendouzi – and you’ve got a squad in the ideal condition to be added to with an elite level of player. These gaps are there for Champions League players, not Europa League players. It’s so inviting.

Arsenal are wonderfully set up for the summer if they do get into the top four.

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