Emery’s transfer kitty is only 45 million
ARSENAL manager Unai Emery will have a transfer budget of only £45 million to spend this summer.
Having been told he could just make loan signings during the January transfer window, Sportsmail understands the Gunners boss will again be forced to work within stringent financial boundaries in the mid-year break. Emery has been informed he will have cash to spend ahead of next season – and Sunday’s 3-1 loss at Manchester City underlined the gulf between Arsenal and the elite.
Emery is keen to sign at least three players including a new left back. But in today’s market, a £45m kitty will create obvious difficulties trying to improve the squad.
Selling players would enable Emery to supplement his transfer budget. Offloading Mesut Ozil would certainly loosen the restrictions. The German’s £350 000-a-week wages are proving a crippling burden on the club’s finances, particularly given that he is now on the periphery of Emery’s team.
But moving on Ozil is likely to prove easier said than done, precisely because of those astronomical wages.
Aaron Ramsey and Danny Welbeck are set to leave on free transfers and, along with Petr Cech’s retirement, that will slash close to £300 000 off the weekly wage bill.
The club will also look to sell a number of fringe players to help generate extra transfer funds, while qualifying for the Champions League would help boost the kitty.
Meanwhile, the Gunners hope to have appointed a new technical director by the start of next season, with Roma supremo Monchi emerging as a leading contender for the role.
Monchi, who has built a reputation as one of football’s outstanding administrators, worked successfully with Emery at Sevilla. There is a growing feeling within the Arsenal hierarchy that the Spaniard is the perfect candidate to fill the newly created role.
Former Holland winger Marc Overmars, who won the Double with Arsenal in 1998, is also in the running for the position. But there are concerns over the Dutchman’s suitability, given his lack of top-level experience as a technical director.
Overmars has spent six years as Ajax’s director of football, but the Dutch league is not viewed as one of Europe’s elite competitions.
Ex-Arsenal midfielder Steve Morrow, who remains involved in the club’s footballing set-up, could also feature in the internal shake-up at the end of the season.
Meanwhile, 21-year-old England defender Joe Gomez is set to miss the next six weeks of Liverpool’s title challenge after having surgery on his fractured right leg.
The England defender suffered the injury in the 3-1 win at Burnley on December 5 and had hoped to be back by mid-January. His rehabilitation hit problems, however, and after consulting specialists it was agreed that he required an operation.
Gomez will miss Premier League games against Manchester United and Everton, as well as the Champions League last-16 tie against Bayern Munich.
It has been a difficult 12 months for Gomez after an ankle injury last year ruled him out of the World Cup.