Arsenal crashed out of the Europa League in midweek, and it’s reported that it could have a major impact on the club off the pitch.
The Gunners were left bitterly disappointed on Thursday night as a late Youssef El-Arabi goal at the Emirates in extra-time sealed Olympiacos’ passage through to the last 16 of the Europa League on away goals.
Aside from the financial boost of going far in the competition, it also offers a pathway into the Champions League for next season, and so now Arsenal have seen that door close in a real setback.
With 11 games to go in the Premier League campaign, they sit in ninth place in the standings and seven points adrift of Chelsea in fourth spot.
In turn, their form between now and the end of the season will be fundamental as The Sun report that they could be £60m worse off if they don’t break back into the top four this year and return to Europe’s top table.
It’s added that such a blow off the pitch could have an impact on Mikel Arteta’s plans in the summer transfer window as the club may not be able to spend as they would like given the financial restrictions that they may have to impose with less revenue being generated.
After falling at the round-of-32 stage of the Europa League, it’s suggested that Arsenal will only receive around £15m. Compare that to the £40m they received for reaching the final last year and the £90m that Liverpool and Tottenham made by reaching the Champions League final, they are at a huge risk of falling further behind their rivals.
It remains to be seen how the season plays out, but there is no doubt that they will be left counting the cost of failure to qualify for Europe and so Arteta and his players have their work cut out for them in the coming weeks it seems.