This article is part of Football FanCast's Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news...

According to The Daily Mail, Arsenal are being "hindered" in their chase to appoint a permanent successor to Unai Emery due to their financial constraints.

What's the word?

The Gunners are on the lookout for a new manager after they sacked Emery following a run of no wins in seven games across all competitions. The north London side have placed Invincibles hero Freddie Ljungberg in charge on an interim basis, but reports have claimed they are keen to make a full-time appointment, with a shortlist of 12 candidates for the role.

But according to The Daily Mail, their limited budget is forcing them to look past leading contenders for the position like Mauricio Pochettino and Massimiliano Allegri. The report claims the Gunners would be unable to match the kind of salary on offer at some of their other top six rivals, and that whilst they are willing to make big offers, it is "nowhere near a figure demanded by Europe's elite coaches".

As a result, the north London side could be forced to much cheaper alternatives like Freddie Ljungberg or Mikel Arteta.

Criminal

Having spent in the region of £72m on Lille winger Nicolas Pepe in the summer, the Gunners would be making a complete mockery by not using financial constraints as a reason behind potentially missing out on their top managerial targets. Players can come and go, but having a top-class manager - as Liverpool and Manchester City have shown in recent years - can go a long way to achieving tangible success.

Turning away from Pochettino because they don't have the 'money' would be nigh on criminal. Appointing the Argentine could well be the biggest and best signing the Gunners could make either now or in the near future. His work at Spurs makes him such a no-brainer - a Champions League final and consecutive years of playing in European football's elite competition. It would be a major blot on the copybook of the Arsenal hierarchy if they skimped out on such a decisive issue. Raul Sanllehi was rightly hailed by the Gunners faithful for a pretty successful transfer window in the summer. But he would have a lot to answer for if the report from The Daily Mail is accurate.

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