Unai Emery has received an early boost to his Arsenal career after majority shareholder Stan Kroenke agreed to release an extra £20million in transfer funds.

But Emery’s first signing may well be a free transfer, with the Gunners working on a deal for right-back Stephan Lichtsteiner.

The 34-year-old will be a free agent when his Juventus contract expires and Arsenal believe he could bring some much-needed leadership to the squad, as well as relieving the workload on Hector Bellerin.

Arsenal had set a £50m restriction on their transfer budget, discounting money made on sales, but Telegraph Sport understands that figure has now increased to around £70m.

It is understood that Kroenke himself gave the green light to provide Emery with a bigger budget than initially expected in a bid to help Arsenal’s new head coach as much as possible.