Arsenal boss Wenger could be left with just £10M to spend in summer

Failure to finish in the top four could leave Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger with just £10 million to spend this summer.

The London Evening Standard says the Gunners are set to announce profits of around £55million when they publish their half-yearly accounts before the end of the month, which the club insist is available for Arsene Wenger to strengthen the squad.

But the Arsenal Supporters' Trust have conducted a detailed assessment of the situation and believe that it would cost the club around £45m should they finish outside the top four. That would leave Wenger around £10m to spend, raising the possibility Arsenal would have to sell players before they could buy big in the summer.

It has been suggested that the Gunners' lack of activity in last month's transfer window was partly motivated by anxiety over a potential loss of Champions League revenue and the consequential impact on the club's balance sheet.

At a meeting of the AST last night, it was claimed that there "are Financial Fair Play issues that concern our members" with the club run as a break-even business reliant on Champions League income to meet its targets.