Footie Central | Football Blog Blogging the football world
Arsenal are counting the cost of not having been in the Champions League.
The financial results for the club’s last financial year released last week revealed a loss of £27 million, the first time since 2002 that they have been in the red.
And the figures for this year are unlikely to be better, with the side failing to make the top four at the end of last season, and languishing in tenth place this time round. And, matters will not have been improved by their shock loss to Olympiakos in the Europa League last week.
Now they risk losing key players like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the summer, who wants to be playing in Europe’s elite competition. And they also face a struggle attracting players of the right calibre to the Emirates if there is no Champions League football to entice them.
However, Mikel Arteta has sounded a cautiously optimistic note about the club’s summer transfer business saying ““Every player in the world wants to play Champions League and if you talk about having this option on the table, players are much more open to joining this club or to renewing their contract.
“Without it? There are always ways. If it is not them, it is their wives, that they are really happy in London. We will find a way, don’t worry.”
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.