Arsenal players could reportedly lose millions of pounds worth of bonuses if they fail to qualify for the Champions League this season.
The Gunners have been on a poor run of form in general in recent months, and that has ultimately led to them falling from a position as a genuine Premier League title contender to risk missing out on the top four and qualifying for the Champions League.
Having crashed out of Europe at the hands of Bayern Munich with a damaging 10-2 aggregate loss, it’s been a far from happy time for them, with question marks still hovering over Arsene Wenger as fan protests continue to gather strength calling for him to step down when his contract expires this summer.
According to The Daily Mail, the problems run deeper as many of the Arsenal players could be forced to accept pay cuts if they miss out on the top four as players are rewarded for qualifying for Europe in their deals.
Last season, Arsenal made £46.7m from reaching the last 16 in the Champions League, and so failing to reach a similar level again would make for negative reading on the club’s accounts with the absence of TV revenue and commercial gains painting a grim picture.
In turn, while some may take it for granted to an extent, finishing in the top four is a much bigger deal that many give it credit for.
Arsenal currently sit in fifth place, five points adrift of Liverpool in fourth although Jurgen Klopp’s side have played two more games than their rivals.
Nevertheless, they’ll be happy to have the points on the board already with the pressure all on Arsenal to respond and secure all three points against West Bromwich Albion this weekend to avoid the gap stretching any further.