Date: 16th May 2019 at 9:49am
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There were four guarantees in life: death, taxes, change, and Arsenal finishing the Premier League season inside the top four.

But for the third season in a row, the North London outfit failed to do that, and are now staring down the barrel of another campaign where they are competing in the Europa League, unless Unai Emery can mastermind a second win over Chelsea as the Gunners’ boss when the two sides meet in Azerbaijan.

Missing out on an automatic spot in the premier UEFA competition, though, brought a sense of realism to Arsenal of how much still needs to change for the club to return to where they were always expected to be – even if their local rivals did their best to leave the door wide open and reduce the gap in the table.

That sense of change, and on a grand scale, would be challenging on a reduced budget, however; with Arsenal only expected to have £40million to play within the summer transfer market, should the Stamford Bridge outfit be the side who lifts the Europa League trophy into the sky come the end of May and later parade it around South West London.

It also appears that the need for Arsenal to overhaul Emery’s squad has not reached the North London outfit’s hierarchy, as BBC Sport journalist David Ornstein claimed on BBC 5 Live on May 14 that the Gunners’ summer spending is likely going to be on a much quieter scale than their supporters hoped for.

He also reiterated that Arsenal are adamant they will not break Financial Fair Play regulations, having spent heavily in the past year or so to bring Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Lucas Torreira to the club, along with deals for Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Bernd Leno and Matteo Guendouzi, among others.

That’s not to say Emery is not eying a range of new blood, but that the Spaniard is rather prioritising positions of particular concern and looking at areas where he can add that little bit extra.

Central defence is the priority position, as far as Ornstein is aware, as well as signing a new box-to-box midfielder who can compliment Arsenal’s 5 ft 5 Uruguayan and promising French prospect having lost Aaron Ramsey.

Beyond that, Emery and the powers that be in N5 are keen to add a wide forward and possibly another striker with Danny Welbeck allowed to leave, which would, in turn, see academy graduate Eddie Nketiah go out on loan for the season.

Left-back and right-back are also potential areas for concern at the Emirates with Nacho Monreal’s contract running down, Sean Kolasinac’s strength being in attack and Hector Bellerin’s season-ending injury.

Signing anyone for those positions would put some of Arsenal’s regulars in an uncomfortable position, and maybe for the better, as the likes of Shkodran Mustafi and Granit Xhaka would suddenly be playing for their futures – if they are even still there when the new Premier League season begins on August 10.

 

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