Monday night's gut-wrenching 2-0 defeat at St. James' Park all but confirmed that Arsenal won't be participating in the UEFA Champions League next season unless results on the final Premier League matchday go in their favour.
The north Londoners were four points clear of local rivals Tottenham Hotspur less than a week ago but back-to-back defeats mean Antonio Conte's men would need to lose to already-relegated Norwich City on Sunday whilst the Gunners would need to clinch all three points against Everton if they want to play in Europe's elite competition next term. Mikel Arteta and Co will also lose out on significant money if they fail to finish in the top four.
Twitter user Swiss Ramble, who is a football business expert, has reported that clubs would earn €15.6million (£13.3million) through prize money just for participating in the 2021/22 Champions League campaign. Winning a group stage game is worth €2.8million (£2.3million), meaning there is a maximum revenue of €16.8million (£14.3million) from the first stage of the competition.
READ MORE: Nicolas Pepe out, William Saliba decision - Transfer status of every Arsenal player this summer
Qualifying for the round of 16 is worth €9.6million (£8.2million) whilst a spot in the quarter-finals earns each team €10.6million (£9million) in revenue. Securing a spot in the semi-finals then brings in a further €12.5million (£10.6million).
The competition's winner receives €20million (£17.1million) while whoever finishes second gets €15.5million (£13.2million), meaning winning the prestige European competition is worth a maximum of €85.1million (£71.9million) in total when you add the participation money on top.
To make matters worse for the Gunners, they would also miss out on considerable sums from TV money and UEFA coefficient cash. The UEFA coefficient pot for the 2021/22 campaign was worth a whopping €600.6million (£507.5million) whilst a total of €300.3million (£259million) in TV cash was to be shared out among clubs participating in the competition.
Those sums are grim reading for Arsenal technical director Edu, who is keen to bolster Mikel Arteta's squad at the end of the current campaign. football.london understands that the Brazilian transfer chief wants to bring in at least one striker, a central midfielder and a backup fullback this summer.
