‘Arsenal need to spend £150m to get top-four Premier League finish’

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:24 BST
• 3 min read

Arsenal have been told they need to invest to the tune of at least £150 million to regain top-four status in the Premier League.

The Gunners crashed out of the Europa League on Thursday, held to a 0-0 draw at home to Villarreal after losing 2-1 in Spain, and are presently ninth in the Premier League standings.

READ MORE: Arteta under pressure – who could replace him as Arsenal manager?

A gulf of 12 points has opened up between Mikel Arteta’s side and the Champions League spots.

It has been argued that the only way that can be bridged is by a huge investment by owner Stan Kroenke and sporting director Edu in the playing staff over the summer – with over £150m required just to get the club back among the elite quartet.

“I’m very critical of Arteta at this time because he’s gone backwards,” Perry Groves, a member of the famous title winners in 1988/89 and in 1990/91, told Talksport.

“This team now needs £150m minimum to put us back into the top four. The owners have questions to ask they are going to invest the money.

“If they are not going to invest the money, then we are going to be languishing in mid-table obscurity and looking down instead of up.

“The question marks with the owners will be, you’ve said the right things in backing the manager and are you going to sell?”

‘Arteta lucky there are no crowds’

Meanwhile, Arteta’s job appears to be on a knife edge, and Groves believes the Spaniard could be sacked if things go south again this weekend against West Brom.

“It’s not untenable at the moment, but it can be very quickly. He’s lucky that there are no crowds.

“If there was a crowd in on Sunday against West Brom, even if it was 4,000, that would be pretty vitriolic.

“He’s now one game away because if he gets beaten by West Brom, then I think he’ll go.

“The thing that worries me is that he’s got worse and he’s overcoaching. When he first went in their he tried to make his mark and won the FA Cup, which no one saw coming.

“He then had the goodwill of the Arsenal fans. I think there’s a manager in there, but he’s not getting enough help from the coaching staff.

“That doesn’t inspire me either.”

Arteta’s position at Arsenal was not helped by the fact that predecessor Unai Emery was at the head of the Villarreal side that knocked them out of Europe in midweek.