Arsenal will be forced to box clever with their summer recruitment drive in the upcoming transfer window because of the economic impact caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
All elite-level football across England has been on hold for over a month now because of the crisis and it is not yet known when the campaign may possibly resume.
As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, businesses in all walks of life have suffered heavily because of the virus, which has forced people to stay at home, not venture out and not spend money that they usually would.
As a result of that, football clubs have suffered heavily, with them losing masses in ticket sales and merchandise revenue.
Those losses are set to have a major knock-on effect when football does eventually resume, not least in the transfer market.
And it is predicted that Arsenal's transfer budget, which could be crucial to head coach Mikel Arteta's next steps in taking the club forward, will be smaller as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking in a football.london Q&A, Arsenal correspondent James Benge said: "Obviously the coronavirus pandemic has put all manner of transfer business in flux and Arsenal will almost certainly have a smaller budget now than they would have if the season had played out as normal.
"Indeed, it might be that they cannot sign players in all those positions [right-back, centre-back, central midfield and a striker] with what funds they have.
"It would also go down rather poorly among a playing squad who have cut their pay if Arsenal were to splash the cash this summer.
"However, recruitment activity hasn't stopped. Scouts are watching reams of video and making what calls they can to get a better understanding of the personality of transfer targets."
