BSP-04 Chelsea clash vital in Arsenal’s need for Champions League cash

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BSP-04

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Chelsea clash vital in Arsenal’s need for Champions League cash

LONDON, Jan 18, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The need for the riches as much as the
prestige of a return to Champions League football leaves Arsenal little room
for error when Chelsea visit the Emirates on Saturday.

A run of three defeats in their last six Premier League games has left the
fifth-placed Gunners six points adrift of their London rivals in the battle
for a top-four finish.

However, it is Chelsea and not Arsenal who are reinforcing in the January
transfer window to ensure they are not forced to cope with the consolation
prize of the Europa League for a second consecutive season.

Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri seems set to finally get the striker he wanted
in Gonzalo Higuain on a loan deal from Juventus having worked with the
Argentine international during a prolific 38-goal season at Napoli in
2015/16.

Arsenal’s problems are at the other end of the field. No side in the top
half of the table have conceded more than the 32 goals Unai Emery’s men have
in 22 Premier League games.

However, Emery has revealed that Arsenal do not have the funds to make
signings this month unless they are on loan.

Arsenal ranked sixth in Deloitte’s latest Football Money League ahead of
the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Liverpool with a near 500-
million-euro ($570 million) income.

However, while Premier League leaders Liverpool spent big on marquee
signings Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk to transform their defensive
record, Arsenal are paying a heavy price for a series of costly contracts and
an imbalanced squad.

The club’s highest earner Mesut Ozil penned a new three-and-a-half contract
worth a reported œ350,000 ($450,000) a week last January as Arsenal feared
losing one of their prized assets for free.

Just days earlier to get some return for Alexis Sanchez, who also wound his
contract down into its final months, Arsenal agreed an exchange deal to sign
Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Manchester United on a deal worth a reported œ200,000
a week until 2021.

However, neither player can count on the confidence of Emery. The two
creative midfielders have started together just four times in the league this
season and Ozil was dropped from the squad entirely for last weekend’s defeat
at West Ham.

– Budget defensive buys exposed –

The deadline-day signing of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang last January has
proved far more successful. The Gabon international is tied with Mohamed
Salah and Harry Kane as the Premier League’s top scorer with 14 goals this
season.

But the œ56 million paid for Aubameyang broke a club-record transfer fee
set by the signing of another striker Alexandre Lacazette just six months
earlier.

Emery has also struggled to get both into his starting line-up with
Lacazette growing increasingly frustrated at playing second fiddle.

With so much spent on strengthening the forward areas, a limited budget
when looking for a new goalkeeper in Bernd Leno and ageing defenders Sokratis
Papastathopoulos and Stephan Lichtsteiner in the summer has been exposed.

To make matters worse, head of recruitment Seven Mislintat, the man hired
to get Arsenal better value in the transfer market just 14 months ago due to
a sterling reputation earned at Dortmund, is reportedly set to leave the club
after recently seeing his influence diminished.

The one obvious way to ease the economic strain is a return to the
Champions League after a two-year absence, making victory this weekend
imperative.

“We have time to achieve that this season,” insisted Emery this week, but
the Spaniard believes he will be afforded time given the restraints put upon
him.

“We knew there were going to be difficulties in this process. The most
important thing is to be aware that the difficulties will come, and at that
moment still be able to make progress.

“That is the idea. The idea is to get Arsenal back to where the club
deserves to be, but it needs time.”

BSS/AFP/MRI/0820 HRS