Despite having no Champions League football this season, Arsenal made £25m in profit in the last financial year, reports Sky Sports. The Gunners lost £23.4m in turnover due to their absence from the prestigious European competition but made £60m in player sales.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Kieran Gibbs, Gabriel and Wojciech Szczesny were sold for around £60m, offsetting the loss of revenue for finishing fifth in the Premier League last season.

Arsenal Holdings plc has cash reserves of £137.6m, which is up £37.1m on their 2016 results. The rising wage budget at the club has led to higher running costs, but the Gunners are still very much in the black.

Mesut Ozil earned a £200k-per-week increase upon agreeing a new deal with Arsenal in January, while new signings Sead Kolasinac, Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are earning in excess of £120k-per-week.

Arsenal chairman Sir Chips Keswick reiterated his desire to make the club self-sufficient and wants the Gunners to spend their money efficiently to make up the deficit to the likes of Manchester City and Manchester United.

“Breaking our transfer record twice in one season and the player contracts we have signed shows our commitment to getting the club back competing for the Premier League,” he said.

“However, our strategy remains self-financing and we must accept all the challenges that brings at a time when the inflation of transfer fees, player wages and the fees demanded by agents has become super-heated.

 “We need to spend effectively and be the best we can across the whole of our football operations if we are to compete at the level our ambitions for the club demand.”

 Arsenal are at risk of another season without Champions League football, however, as the London club sit sixth in the Premier League table, 10 points off the European spots with only 11 games remaining.