Arsenal can still make the investments required to compete even if they spend more time in the Europa League – despite the financial implications of not finishing in the top four, according to managing director Vinai Venkatesham.
The Gunners have missed out on Champions League football in the past two seasons, with new head coach Unai Emery tasked with returning the club to Europe’s elite club competition.
The challenge of doing so requires Arsenal usurping the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham – who currently occupy the top four positions in the Premier League.
While competing in the Champions League is where supporters want to be, it also makes it easier to attract new signings and results in more money coming into the club coffers.
Venkatesham stepped up to become Arsenal’s managing director following Ivan Gazidis’ decision to leave his role of chief executive and move to a similar position at AC Milan.
He admits being in the Europa League is costing the club tens of millions of pounds in terms of revenue but that there is no urgent need to recoup those lost funds.
“It is not going to be easy but I absolutely, 100 per cent believe Arsenal Football Club can get back to where it needs to get,” said Venkatesham.
“The first step we need to do is get back into the Champions League and then we need to start competing and then we need to start winning the biggest trophies in the game.
“We need to be realistic, last season we finished sixth and we had our second season in a row in the Europa League – that is not where we want this football club to be.
“I think it has an impact across the club – it is a material impact, financially, being in the Europa League and not the Champions League.
“It is hard to put a number on it because it depends how well you do in the Europa League and how well you do in the Champions League and it depends on how many English clubs are in both.
“But it is tens of millions of pounds, it is a material impact being in the Europa League – so that is the financial bit of it.”
While supporters may worry that the financial impact could lead to Arsenal being cut adrift from the top clubs at home and on the continent Venkatesham believes the club’s model can sustain a longer period out of the Champions League before that becomes a concern.
“We do have a self-sustaining business model so the more years you spend out of the Champions League the bigger strain it puts on the business model,” he added.
“There’s not a final point we get to where it becomes a catastrophic problem and we are nowhere near that.
“We run the business in a responsible way – we know there are at least six teams who have a minimum requirement of being in the Champions League.
“So we have that robustness built into our business model that we can have some seasons in the Europa League and still make the investments we need.”
Arsenal head of football Raul Sanllehi admits Danny Welbeck’s serious ankle injury could force the club to rethink their January transfer plans – but insists the England international will get “all the support” required to make a successful comeback.
Welbeck underwent two operations after suffering a broken ankle in a recent Europa League clash with Sporting Lisbon.
The 27-year-old had featured prominently in manager Unai Emery’s cup side and was often used as a substitute in the Premier League.
With a history of serious injuries against his name, Welbeck’s latest setback could spell the end of his stay at the Emirates Stadium as he is out of contract in the summer.
Emery said in the aftermath of the injury that he would give young forward Eddie Nketiah a chance to fill the void left by Welbeck.
While Sanllehi agreed with the Gunners head coach, he did not rule out the idea that Arsenal may also venture into the transfer market.
“That is absolutely something unplanned,” he said of Welbeck’s injury.
“Yes, that makes you consider things. I am not saying that’s a green light to go to the market but we have good players in the house also that may get further opportunities like Eddie Nketiah for example.
“We need to see. We are in November so it’s a good time to start analysing what options we have in the market. We are not closing the door but it’s still not the preferred one.
“The plans were made in the summer. We are happy with how things are going. We are always going to strive to be the best team we can be.
“If there is a very good opportunity, we are definitely going to consider (it), we will see. Danny Welbeck’s injury alters, in a way, the views.”
The former Manchester United man has missed plenty of football since moving to north London in 2014, most notably through two major knee injuries.
While he could have played his last game for Arsenal, Sanllehi said he will be offered the full backing of the club to overcome his ankle issue.
“Danny knows that he will get all the support that he needs from Arsenal to make the perfect rehabilitation of his injury,” added Sanllehi.
“We are very sad for Danny and he knows he has all the support from the club.”