Arsenal ready to splash CL income on £80m PL star and three more players as five could leave

Joe Williams
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta claps the fans

Arsenal are set to use their potential money from Champions League qualification to buy West Ham midfielder Declan Rice and ‘at least’ three more players, according to reports.

The Gunners are having an exceptional season in the Premier League with the club leading the standings after 24 matches.

Mikel Arteta’s side have a chance to go five points ahead of second-placed Manchester City if they can beat Everton at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night.

They have come a long way since finishing fifth in the Premier League last term and now Arteta will be hopeful that Arsenal will back him again in the summer transfer window.

Arsenal have still looked light on depth in some positions and have been quite lucky with injuries, although a long-term injury to Gabriel Jesus at the World Cup was a big blow.

And now The Times claims that Arteta is ‘planning to overhaul his Arsenal squad by signing at least four players this summer using potential Champions League income’.

Arsenal are ‘confident of beating’ Chelsea to the signing of Rice with the Gunners also potentially going back in for Brighton’s Moises Caicedo, who they had two bids rejected for in the January transfer window.

Arteta, assisted by Arsenal technical director Edu, ‘wants to bring in two central midfielders, a winger and probably a left back’ in the summer.

Despite the strong likelihood of them qualifying for the Champions League, their summer deals could be ‘part-funded’ by player sales with Kieran Tierney, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Nuno Tavares, Emile Smith Rowe and Folarin Balogun all facing uncertain futures.

Tavares is currently on loan at Ligue 1 side Marseille from Arsenal after being used as a squad player by Arteta last season.

And the Portugal under-21 left-back knows he has to improve defensively after a poor performance against Paris Saint-Germain over the weekend.

Speaking to Prime Video in France, Tavares said: “My flaw? I don’t control myself. I struggle to stay in place if we have a few minutes and need to win the game. I want to always run and lose all my stamina. When I keep going back and forth, I lose my defensive lucidity, but I need to make the effort.

“Am I too energetic? Yes, in most games. If we’re winning 2-1 for example, I want to score the third goal. I don’t like seeing the other team in our side of the pitch. Pushing us back. That’s my mentality, but sometimes that’s not possible. I need to stay back, but it’s against my nature.”

READ MORE: Neville maintains controversial Arsenal, Man Utd Prem prediction after Carabao Cup final