Premier League rules limiting the extent to which a club's wage bill can increase year-on-year could result in Arsenal being forced to sell assets this summer.

The Gunners are trying to tie Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil to new contracts at the Emirates but, should they be successful, they could breach the short term cost control (STCC) measures which restrict teams to £7million increases in total salaries each season.

Fresh deals for Sanchez and Ozil alone would take Arsenal's wage bill well beyond those restrictions, should both agree terms on £280,000-per-week contracts.

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Alexis Sanchez, left, and Mesut Ozil are demanding higher wages that could pose problems

Arsenal are trying to tie down Alexis Sanchez to a new contract worth £280,000 per week

The Gunners are also willing to offer Mesut Ozil a similar pay rise to keep him in north London

Sanchez currently earns £130,000 per week and Ozil £140,000, meaning both could double their money by staying in north London.

In that eventuality, their total pay rise would be in the region of £15m annually.

Premier League rules allow for overspend, should clubs be able to show that it comes as a result of increased commercial or matchday revenue, or player sales.

However, Arsenal are unlikely to see a significant upturn in commercial or matchday revenue - which includes TV money, ticketing and merchandise - given Arsene Wenger's side have missed out on a place in the Champions League.

Therefore, in order to facilitate Sanchez and Ozil staying, the club may need to offload players to increase revenue from player sales.

Several members of the Arsenal squad are attracting interest from elsewhere.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain may be sold as Arsenal look to raise revenue through player sales

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, whose current contract has only one year left to run, is being monitored by Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City and could raise as much as £25m.

Barcelona are known to be suitors of Hector Bellerin, while Olivier Giroud is reportedly on the radars of Marseille, West Ham and Napoli and there are a cluster of fringe players who could also be sold to raise the necessary cash.

The adjusted STCC rules, which came into play this season, previously only allowed clubs to up their wage bills by £4m but the threshold has been bumped up as a result of the recent £5.14billion TV rights deal.

STCC restrictions do not apply to clubs whose wage bills in 2016-17 were under £67m, while promoted teams are allowed to immediately increase their total salary packages to £67m immediately upon reaching the top flight.

Oxlade-Chamberlain is being monitored by Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City

Clubs could opt to use the 2012-13 season's wage bill as their base figure, but would only be permitted a £19m increase over the five-year period.

In Arsenal's case, this would be unmanageable. The Gunners' wage bill in 2012-13 was £151m but that had jumped to £191m in 2015-16, according to the most recent club accounts available via Companies House.

The STCC rules sit alongside the Premier League's 'profit and sustainability' guidelines, which state that clubs should not lose more than £105m over a three-year period.