Arsenal are currently 10th on the Premier League table and with passing week it’s getting incredibly difficult for them to qualify for the Champions League next season.
Up until now, the Gunners had the chance of getting back into the top-tier by winning the Europa League but last week, they were knocked out of the tournament by Olympiacos.
Arsenal are eight points from the top-four spot on the league table and now Mikel Arteta has admitted that if they fail to get back into the Champions League then it will be really difficult for them to hold onto their top players.
‘I think the damage caused by the club not being in the Champions League for the third season is really big,’ said Arteta via Metro.
‘Financially the impact is enormous because the structure of this club is built to be in the Champions League and you can sustain that for one year or two, but then after you have to start making decisions.
‘So we will have to make decisions one way or the other depending on the scenario we find ourselves, whether we are in the Champions League, Europa League or nowhere near that.
‘And we’ll have a very clear plan of what we want to do and depending on where we are we have to act like this.
‘It will be difficult but this is the situation we are in now. We’ve been in that situation because we haven’t performed as well as the other top four clubs have been doing.
‘That’s the reality and we have to face that reality face to face and try to make the best decisions.
‘We don’t have margin for error with those decisions so they have to be very thorough and clear processes of where we have to improve and how we are going to do that and then go forward with no excuses’.
Already there have been rumours that the likes of Aubameyang and Lacazette could head out during the summer and the only way for Arteta to hold onto them is by getting back amongst the big boys.
Right now, the dream of playing in the UCL next campaign seems to be fading away as the Gunners have managed to win just two of their last five league matches. So in order to get anywhere close to the likes of Chelsea and Man United, Arsenal will have to go on a dream run.
Apart from losing players, Mikel Arteta will also find it really hard to get the finances for new signings at the end of the season if they remain in the Europa League for yet another season.
