Arsenal are planning to carry out a force cleanup in the summer transfer window of 2026, despite the fact that the team has just collected a huge bonus from the journey to the Champions League final this season.
The Gunners" won a ticket to Budapest after a 1-0 victory over Atletico Madrid in the second leg of the semi-finals, thereby overcoming the Spanish representative with a total score of 2-1. The opponent of Mikel Arteta's team in the final on May 30 will be Paris Saint-Germain.
Participating in the final match of the Champions League helps Arsenal receive an additional £16 million in prize money from UEFA, raising total revenue from the European arena this season to about £122 million. If they defeat PSG to win the Champions League for the first time, the Emirates Stadium team will receive an additional £10 million.
This huge revenue continues to strengthen Arsenal's financial strength, especially after the club earned more than 100 million pounds from the Champions League last season. However, the club's board of directors understand that they cannot continue to spend like last summer.
In the previous transfer window, Arsenal spent up to 267 million pounds to bring in 8 new players but only recovered about 10 million pounds from player sales. This makes them the team with the highest net spending in the Premier League with a figure of up to 257 million pounds.
Therefore, The Gunners are aiming for a more balanced financial transfer window. The North London team still wants to upgrade the squad to maintain competitiveness under Arteta, but at the same time also determines that selling players is necessary to ensure sustainable development.
In addition to financial pressure, Arsenal also has to consider the Premier League's new regulations on the proportion of team spending, which will take effect from next season. Accordingly, clubs are only allowed to use up to 85% of revenue for salary funds and team spending.
Although the latest financial report shows that Arsenal only lost about 1.4 million pounds before tax in the 2024-2025 season, these figures do not fully reflect the impact of the strong summer shopping spree last year.
Arsenal's leadership is said to have prepared a transfer plan very early, and at the same time built many different scenarios to ensure flexibility in the market. They are not forced to sell before buying, but understand that generating revenue from transfers is a key factor for a long-term strategy.
Some players such as Ben White, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli are appearing in rumors of leaving Emirates. In addition, Arsenal may also face difficult decisions related to talents who have grown up from academia such as Myles Lewis-Skelly or Ethan Nwaneri. These are players with very high transfer value and will bring in large profits according to financial regulations.
The case of Lewis-Skelly is particularly noteworthy. This young player has made a strong impression in recent matches against Fulham and Atletico Madrid when used in midfield, showing the potential to become an important factor. However, that form also caused his transfer value to skyrocket.
Meanwhile, Jakub Kiwior is almost certain to leave Arsenal after Porto decided to activate a buyout clause worth about £19 million.
In the opposite direction, the "Gunners" are still planning to strengthen their forces in three positions including attack, midfield and full-back. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia of PSG and Anthony Gordon of Newcastle are on the target list for the left winger position.
In addition, Arsenal is also particularly interested in Julian Alvarez of Atletico Madrid - the striker who caused them many difficulties in the Champions League semi-finals. Sporting director Andrea Berta is said to understand Alvarez very well, because he himself supervised the deal to bring the Argentine striker from Manchester City to Atletico for a price of about 82 million pounds in 2024.
However, Atletico Madrid does not want to sell Alvarez and is said to only accept negotiations if they receive an offer of about 130 million pounds. Barcelona and PSG are also closely monitoring the situation of the 2022 World Cup champion.
Expensive transfer targets show that Arsenal will have to make many big decisions this summer. Arteta's team wants to continue to advance to conquer major titles, but they also have to maintain financial stability in the context of European football increasingly being tightly controlled in spending.
