The Arsenal Supporters' Trust believes the Gunners’ revenue will fall below north London rivals Tottenham this year and warned Champions League qualification is “imperative” to reviving the club’s fortunes.

Reports emerged on Tuesday that head coach Unai Emery will only have around £40million to spend this summer as he seeks to overhaul a squad bolstered in January by a solitary loan acquisition - Denis Suarez’s arrival from Barcelona until the end of the season.

That figure is understood to be disputed by senior figures at the club who were always reluctant to do major business last month and insist planning is well advanced for their summer transfer strategy despite the imminent departure of Sven Mislintat, head of recruitment for just over a year.

It is also claimed Emery was misrepresented in some quarters when his confirmation that Arsenal were only looking for mid-season loan deals was framed as a lack of money rather than a conscious decision not to spend.

However, the club’s latest financial figures show the club’s revenue was down more than £40m to £388.2m for the year ending May 31, 2018 – a period not including the subsequent £71m outlay on five new signings after Emery replaced Arsene Wenger.

And after the Deloitte Football Money League had the Gunners just £10m above Spurs’ total revenue of £379m, the AST are concerned Arsenal are in danger of being surpassed on and off the pitch with Tottenham set to receive a share of substantial increases in Champions League income.

“The AST follows Arsenal financial position closely and it is clear that at present money is tight,” a spokesman told Standard Sport.

“The wage bill has grown too big at a time that revenues have fallen due to only qualifying for the Europa League. For this current season (2018-19), we expect Arsenal to make a loss of about £60m. Even more shocking is that our revenue will fall behind Spurs.

“Looking ahead it shows how imperative it is that Arsenal make the Champions League next year and they will also need to be extremely shrewd in the transfer market”.

Arsenal’s finances will be bolstered by the commencement of two new commercial deals this summer. An improved shirt sponsorship agreement with Emirates is thought to be worth an extra £10m each year until 2024 while Adidas will become the club’s new kit supplier, paying approximately £300m over five years.

There is also the Premier League’s new television deal which could feature a small increase in revenue for the big six teams depending on the final worth of international rights fees – the sextet will share any increase in the £3.3bn agreed under the existing deal.

But of more immediate impact to Arsenal will be the need to reduce a bloated £240m annual wage bill. That figure will drop with Aaron Ramsey and Danny Welbeck set to depart on free transfers while Petr Cech is also set to retire.

The future of Mesut Ozil is yet to be determined but it is unlikely to be satisfactory for any party if the midfielder continues to be a bit-part player while earning a club-record £350,000-a-week.

There is an acceptance behind the scenes that the squad will require several transfer windows to fix and the need to be market-savvy has arguably never been greater. However, there is hope that the recent promising acquisitions of Matteo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira show they can still unearth top talent at reasonable prices.

The AST told Standard Sport on January 25 that the suggestion Arsenal have modest funds available is “deliberately misleading”.

The organisation believes there is considerably more to invest than the reported £40m figure but, regardless, a return to the Champions League would be a huge fillip, not just in terms of revenue – broadcast income dropped around £19m by playing in the Europa League – but also in the calibre of player they acquire.

Sunday’s 3-1 defeat at Manchester City meant they dropped to sixth place in the Premier League, three points behind fourth-placed Chelsea and below Manchester United for the first time since the second weekend of the season.