Arsenal told they could face transfer crisis with Edu sent "budget" warning

Former Arsenal skipper William Gallas has warned his old side they face a difficult task in replacing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette this summer.

The Gunners made the decision to part ways with Aubameyang last month, with the club's top earner seeing his contract prematurely ended in order to join Barcelona.

Since his departure, Lacazette has been named the club's new captain, but he also looks destined to be on the move, with his contract expiring at the end of the season.

Young striker Eddie Nketiah is also due to become a free agent in the summer, leaving Mikel Arteta facing the prospect of needing to entirely rebuild his options to lead the line.

HAVE YOUR SAY! Will Arsenal finish in the top four this season? Let us know in the comments

Gunners boss Arteta spent much of the last window trying to sign Dusan Vlahovic, only for Juventus to win the race, while the likes of Alexander Isak, Ollie Watkins and Dominic Calvert-Lewin have all been linked.

Between them, Arteta and technical director Edu know the importance of landing a top quality striker in order to continue their progression seen this season.

But Gallas, who spent four years at Arsenal, is concerned that finding a suitable replacement within their budget will be very difficult.

"There's an expectation within the club that Lacazette is leaving in the summer, so they need to find at least one top striker to replace him and Aubameyang," Gallas told bet365.

"There are no players that stand out to me at the minute that are within Arsenal's budget.

"I just want to see them sign a striker who can score at least 20 goals a season and that's not easy to find, but for a striker, that's the standards of what we expect at a club of Arsenal's stature.

"For teams like Man City, the way they play they don't need an out and out striker. All of their team can score.

"But for Arsenal they need a good, solid striker who can score a minimum of 20 goals a season."

Their attempts to recruit a new striker will be bolstered significantly should they return to the Champions League via a top-four finish.

Last week's win at Wolves has put them firmly in contention, knowing that if they win their games in hand, they will sit above West Ham and Manchester United - the two teams directly above them in the table.

And Gallas believes that Arsenal will manage to overcome significant competition to book their place back in Europe's top competition for the first time since 2017.

"It'll be very exciting to see," the former defender added. "Arsenal after winning 1-0 against Wolves look a strong contender, that was a big result for them.

"I know there's West Ham as well who look good this year, but Arsenal have a great opportunity to finish fourth. I'm backing them to do it."