Arsenal fans expecting a summer revolution will be sorely disappointed.
The loss against Olympiacos was a reality check that should come as no surprise to Arsenal fans, but it seems it did.
Until the Olympiacos game Arsenal was unbeaten this year, however, they were hardly setting the world alight and the results to a large extent masked the fact that the squad is simply not good enough.
Fans were lead into a world that this Arsenal team was actually better than it was because of the odd good game and improvement in some players, they are no longer thinking that today.
We all know that Arsenal needs a whole raft of new players and for the deadwood to be shipped out, well, unfortunately, that is not going to happen, not fast anyway.
In my opinion, the summer is not going to go the way we hope. I will run through just a few things that I believe will or will not happen.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will leave
To me, that is a certainty, no Champions League football to look forward to, very little hope of a title challenge and no chance of a huge Mesut Ozil type wage.
Mesut Ozil staying put
He is going nowhere, he has made that clear and there is no club in this universe or the next that will pay him what he is on at Arsenal.
No big-money signings
Arsenal cannot afford it, they cannot afford the wages or the fee because of financial fair play and without Champions League football which high profile player will come on board anyway? Not one under 30 that is for sure.
No mass clear-out
Shkodran Mustafi was told to find a club last summer and no one, it appeared, was prepared to match his wages or Arsenal’s valuation. I reckon the same will apply to the likes of Granit Xhaka, David Luiz, Sokratis etc.
The owners will not dip into their pockets
Even if the Kroenke’s wanted to they cannot. Years of appalling transfer business, bad contract negotiations and lack of Champions League football mean that no matter how many tens of millions they inject into the club they cannot because of financial fair play.
So, in conclusion, Aubameyang is gone, Ozil stays, no big-name signings, no mass clear-out and no cash injection from the owners.
Hopefully, I am wrong but I doubt it. To me, this is the cold hard reality Arsenal fans will need to get used to.
