Unai Emery has insisted his sole focus is on the fight for Champions League football as the Arsenal hierarchy prepares to overhaul the squad in the summer transfer window.
The nine Arsenal players fighting for their future as the summer transfer window approaches as many as nine first-team players are fighting for their future in the final months of the season, with Arsenal prepared to listen to offers for the likes of Shkodran Mustafi, Mohamed Elneny and even Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
The Gunners' budget will only stretch to around £75million if they qualify for the Champions League and could be less than £50m if they fail to do so but selling on those who have struggled to impress could give Emery's transfer budget a major boost as he looks to recruit a wide attacker, left-back and replacement for Juventus-bound Aaron Ramsey.
The nine Arsenal players fighting for their future as the summer transfer window approaches
However it is not Emery, a head coach rather than a manager as his predecessor Arsene Wenger was, who is solely responsible for transfer decisions even if his influence is perhaps greater than had originally been expected when Arsenal appointed him a year ago.
With no sporting director yet in place - and an appointment highly unlikely until the season is over - the Spaniard and head of football Raul Sanllehi are expected to play a leading role in the club's recruitment this summer but it is not a task that he is overly concerned with at the moment.
"My focus in my career and my history is, for the best performance, to think about the next matches," Emery said. "For me the future doesn't exist.
"I live in the present. It's very important in each match to show our performance and then my capacity and for the players to show what they can do, with our supporters.
"We aren't thinking about the future. You need to play each match thinking about that big spirit to do all we can individually and collectively. I believe in the players and our way.
Every word Arsenal boss Unai Emery just said on Mustafi, transfers, Wolves trip and top four
"We have possibilities, it's not for me to think about the future."
Arsenal had intended for a technical director to lead their business this summer but after failing to snare first-choice target Monchi, who rejoined his boyhood club Sevilla, they have reassessed their options, with no firm decision yet taken on alternative options. The delay could open the door for former Gunner Edu, who had been reluctant to leave his job as Brazilian national team co-ordinator before this summer's Copa America.
However Arsenal's delay could open the door for Edu, who was among the candidates they were interested in before they pursued Monchi.
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