EMERY HIT BY NEED TO CUT ARSENAL WAGE BILL

ARSENAL are under pressure to slash their wage bill, which is likely to impact on Unai Emery’s ability to mould his own squad. The Gunners spent £70million on five new players over the summer, a relatively humble amount in comparison to some Premier League rivals. And during the final weeks of the transfer window their primary focus was on trying to off-load players. Arsenal managed to shift about £14m off their annual wage bill when Jack Wilshere, Santi Cazorla and Lucas Perez left. But the summer signings came after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan both joined on close to £200,000 a week in January, while Mesut Ozil upped his wages to £300,000 a week. Arsenal hope to off-load Mohamed Elneny to Marseille by the end of the month, which would free up a further £55,000 per week, but the need to trim Emery’s squad is likely to extend into January and beyond. Meanwhile, the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust are ready to contest Stan Kroenke’s compulsory purchase of the remaining shares he does not own in the club. ‘We are not going away without a fight,’ said the trust.