19 January,2019 11:45 AM IST | London | AFP
Arsenal players attend a basketball game between Washington Wizards and New York Knicks at at the O2 Arena in London on Thursday. Pic/AFP
The need for the riches as much as the prestige of a return to Champions League football leaves Arsenal little room for error when Chelsea visit the Emirates on Saturday. A run of three defeats in their last six Premier League games has left the fifth-placed Gunners six points adrift of their London rivals in the battle for a top-four finish.
However, it is Chelsea and not Arsenal who are reinforcing in the January transfer window to ensure they are not forced to cope with the consolation prize of the Europa League for a second consecutive season.
Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri seems set to finally get the striker he wanted in Gonzalo Higuain on a loan deal from Juventus having worked with the Argentine international during a prolific 38-goal season at Napoli in 2015-16.
Arsenal's problems are at the other end of the field. No side in the top half of the table have conceded more than the 32 goals Unai Emery's men have in 22 Premier League games.
However, Emery has revealed that Arsenal do not have the funds to make signings this month unless they are on loan. Arsenal ranked sixth in Deloitte's Football Money League with a near 500-million-euro income.
However, while Liverpool spent big on signings Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk to transform their defensive record, Arsenal are paying a price for a series of costly contracts and an imbalanced squad.
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