Arsenal's players could be in line for a massive bonus of around 500,000 pounds each if they can seal a top-four finish and a return to the Champions League, once familiar territory for the Gunners but recently just a memory.
Between the 1996/97 and 2015/16 seasons, Arsenal finished in the top four of the Premier League every year without fail. With that came regular participation in Europe's elite club competition and, for the better part of two decades, the London club were synonymous with the Champions League.
It has now been five years since Arsenal played on that stage, however, and their status as a Champions League club has been fading into the history books as little more than a memory. This season, though, under Mikel Arteta, the club are looking good for a first top-four finish since 2016 and the potential for a return to where they feel they belong that goes with it.
Arsenal are currently fourth in the table and have games in hand over their nearest rivals for the spot in Manchester United, West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur. If they can consolidate their position in the coming weeks, there could be a very lucrative windfall for not only the club but every member of the playing squad.
Champions League qualification would be worth in excess of 50 million to the club and, as a reward, as per an agreement prior to the start of the season, the players would be entitled to up to 500,000 each as a bonus, according to the Times.
A return to the top four would also be a huge vindication of Arteta's rebuild project and help the club re-establish itself as a major player, not only in the hunt for titles but in the race to sign top players, which in turn would help them on the field. The best players want to play Champions League football and at Arsenal that was once a guarantee. The hope at the Emirates Stadium is that it will become so once again.
Nightmare possibility
There is one scenario, however, where Arsenal finish fourth but don't play in the Champions League football next season. That's if Manchester United win the Champions League and West Ham win the Europa League, and assuming both finish below Arsenal in the league.
UEFA rules allow an absolute maximum of five Champions League entrants from one country, so if the above hypothetical scenario plays out, it would be Manchester United and West Ham joining Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea in the top tier competition and Arsenal missing out for another year.