Arsenal will hand Arsene Wenger a £70m war chest in the summer, regardless of whether they manage to finish in the top four, reports the Telegraph.

The Frenchman, who took charge of the Gunners in 1996, is experiencing his most disappointing season in north London, after his club was knocked out of the FA Cup by Championship side Blackburn Rovers over the weekend; a result which prompted angry remarks from the club's supporters all around the world.

It follows their elimination from the Capital One Cup at the hands of League Two side Bradford City earlier in the season. Arsenal sit 21 points off the pace in the Premier League table and four behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur.

Arsene Wenger
Reuters

However, the report claims Arsenal's hierarchy's belief in Wenger will remain unshaken, even if they fail to finish in the top four and complete their eight consecutive season without silverware. It is understood that around £70m will be made available for the 63-year-old at the end of the season, with the Gunners planning to sign "three or four" top players, including a talismanic forward who can fill the void left by former captain Robin van Persie.

Arsenal will publish their half-yearly accounts in the next few weeks and are expected to register considerable profits due to the summer sales of van Persie and Alex Song. The report also states the club have an estimated cash balance of over £150mn and this will be further boosted by the new Emirates shirt sponsorship deal and a kit deal that is expected to be agreed soon, with either Nike or Adidas.

Wenger is under immense pressure from fans, who remain unhappy with the club's failure to snap up top players in the last few transfer windows. Arsenal's only addition in January was left-back Nacho Monreal from Malaga and it seems the French tactician has no choice but to loosen his purse strings in the summer, with midfielders Etienne Capoue of Toulouse, Victor Wanyama of Celtic and Fiorentina forward Stevan Jovetic being constantly linked to the club.

Arsenal face runaway Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich in the first leg of a Champions League knock-out tie at the Emirates, on Tuesday night and the manager has admitted his recruits lack the confidence and maturity to perform consistently in big matches .

"First you have to rebuild the confidence because we are not playing against Blackburn on Tuesday. We play Bayern Munich so a lot of confidence will be needed. We have a great team but we still have to show more maturity on the mental front. We have to understand what it means to win big games. The top level is about consistency in every single game. Mentally, we are not capable at the moment of preparing in exactly the same way for every game," Wenger said.

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