Arsenal have just advanced to the quarterfinals of the Europa League and it would be right to get excited. We are only 5 games away from not only a European trophy but also Champions League qualification. It is no myth that being part of Europe’s finest competition gives any club a superior budget and pitch to convince the best players available in the market to join the team. Arsenal have had a nightmare this last couple of seasons in this regard, affecting the club’s finances and the quality of the players that have been recruited.
The Arteta project, however, seems like it’s progressing in these last few weeks. We are starting to be more dominant and disciplined but sadly, we always beat ourselves by committing inexplicable mistakes. The one thing that just cannot happen in what is left of our Europa League campaign.
Well, this is a transfer column, so let’s talk about transfers. The advantages we would have with Champions League football could change the present and future of Arsenal.
As we all know, qualifying for the Champions league is going to be huge for revenues, particularly during COVID when clubs are losing ticket revenues. It hurts a club like Arsenal in a huge way during this time when fans are not being allowed into the stadium.
Plenty of cost-cutting measures have been taken – the club has recognized the need to re-invest in the first team as how successful we are will determine the sustainability from a business point of view.
Arsenal is a massive institution – we are able to attract players even without European football as evidenced by the signing of Thomas Partey in the summer. Having said that, there are certain top players in Europe that we won’t be able to attract without Champions league. Take a player like Haaland or Sancho for example – at this moment, Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea are the favorites from the Premier league, possibly Liverpool.
We’re Arsenal, we want to be in that position. But we aren’t at this moment in time but we want to be there. Champions league football is imperative. As Raul Sanllehi famously said, ‘When Arsenal knocks on a player’s door, it is a different knock than other clubs.”
A move for a player like Jack Grealish would be much more possible should we secure CL.. Arsenal have the perfect conditions to make a statement in the market as well, as the club has freed huge amounts of wages in this past January window. Around $40m (£29m).
Not only there will be more money to spend due to the obvious revenue, but Arsenal still have many players that could depart for a decent fee. The likes of Matteo Guendouzi, Lucas Torreira, Joe Willock, Calum Chambers, Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding and Alexandre Lacazette for example.
Arsenal have a plethora of sellable assets as I’ve highlighted – just imagine the benefit of Champions league football along with the money we get from sales – it would be absolutely massive.
In all honesty, there should be a major overhaul if we want to compete. But, it is important that we sign wisely and that the players coming in will be nothing less than a success. Securing Champions league football means we get most of the overhaul done.
The situation would look much bleaker if we fail to get top 4 or win the Europa League. Our position in the league would mean that we won’t have any European competition whatsoever, leading to the executives having to sell to buy, and lowering the quality of the players arriving.
It is our duty as Arsenal fans to support the club through this very crucial moment in the season because it can change everything once we get to go back to the Emirates in the near future.