Arsenal qualifying straight into the Champions League last-16 looks set to provide Mikel Arteta with a huge cash injection. Following their 2-1 win in Spain against Girona, the Gunners confirmed their spot in the top eight by finishing third which will see them play one of Feyenoord, PSV, Juventus or AC Milan after the play-offs.

Joining them in the round of 16 will be Liverpool, Barcelona, Inter, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Lille and Aston Villa. Arsenal entered the final matchday in fifth and moving up just two places has actually seen the club provided with an increased windfall.

Over £470,000 has been acquired because of their latest victory and other results going their way. That is just a fraction of the prize money however, with Reach PLC's Business of Football Writer Dave Powell explaining the huge impact the competition can and already has provided.

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"The impact of Arsenal’s return to Champions League football has already been demonstrated," he said. “The publication of the 2025 Deloitte Football Money League last week saw the club jump three places to seventh among world clubs, leapfrogging Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool when it came to total revenue.

"That can be attributed in a significant way to their return to European club football’s top table. Arsenal’s revenue jumped by a third, from £463m to £616m, a new club record, as the Gunners competed in the Champions League for the first time in six seasons.

“As for this season, with a record of five wins, one draw and one defeat, regardless of what happened in Girona, Arsenal had already bagged £9.6m in prize money from just the results alone.

"Add to that the £16m for qualification for the league stage, and in progressing through to the knockout stages which delivers £9.4m, and the £1.7m bonus for finishing in the top eight, and things start to add up.

“There is also another boost of around £7.9million from finishing third through the new revenue distribution model. Referred to as 'shares', the higher the finishing place the more 'shares' a club will receive.

"One share is £236,000, therefore, the 36th-placed side would take home one share that sum from the league system, while the team that finishes top wins 36 shares, a sum of £8.5m.

“There is also the addition of at least one extra home game at the Emirates, likely worth around £4m to the club, while access to greater pots of broadcast revenue due to the club’s strong position thanks to market pool size of the Premier League would add further millions.

"Matchday revenue has probably been aided to the tune of some £16m from the four home games so far. Greater sums for going deep in the competition are on offer, but to look ahead to what qualification for the knockout phase actually means for the Gunners, it is reasonable to assume that they will already be looking at sums north of £60m, and that doesn’t factor in the broadcast rights, meaning it could well be around the £70m mark by the time the knockout phase comes along.”