Arsenal are working on a limited budget as they search for a new manager, according to reports.

After Unai Emery’s sacking one week ago, Freddie Ljungberg took charge of the club’s head coach duties on an interim basis. Arsenal made no secret of the fact this was a temporary appointment though, as they search for a long-term replacement.

According to the Standard, it’s not as simple as just picking the manager they want. Arsenal are reportedly working on a limited budget and are ‘unable to offer a salary competitive with the game’s elite’.

The suggestion is that Arsenal would struggle to afford to pay the compensation packages for prospective targets in the Premier League like Nuno Espirito Santo and Brendan Rodgers – who has signed a new contract with Leicester anyway.

This is obviously going to be a big problem for the club, and not just in the short term.

If Arsenal aren’t going to put forward competitive wages for their next head coach, they’re unlikely to attract a top candidate. Maybe they get lucky and bring in an unexpected option who outperforms their wages. Eventually, though, they have to be replaced and the problem recurs.

The odds of continually signing top managers for less than the competitive rates are obviously low. You’d have to pick extremely intelligently. The people in charge of the decision have so far only employed Unai Emery.

That’s in the best-case scenario, where Arsenal get lucky with their next pick.

If they don’t, and the next manager catalyses the club’s freefall, it becomes a vicious circle. Bad coaching means poor performances, negative results, a lower finish in the table and less money to spend on coaches. This could be a real issue.