Arsenal have announced that they are freezing ticket prices for next season just hours before the January transfer window is prepared to slam shut.

"This season the Club introduced new pricing categories which created 90,000 cheaper tickets at £25 as part of its drive to provide more tickets at affordable prices.

"In addition it continued the policy of offering prices at £10 for adults and £5 for children for home Capital One Cup ties.

"The price freeze applies to all match ticket prices including season tickets in both General Admission and Club Level. Club Level season ticket renewals will begin on February 12."

Protesting

The Gunners have been the victims of mass criticism in recent weeks, with fans furiously complaining about forking out for expensive tickets.

A recent survey suggested that Arsenal charge the highest prices for fans to watch their side, which could lead to a monumental backlash if Arsene Wenger fails to spend some money on strengthening his side during this window.

Earlier this month, Manchester City sent back over 900 tickets ahead of their visit to the Emirates Stadium, deeming them too expensive, while the Spirit of Shankly supporters' group have promised a protest ahead of tonight’s match with Liverpool after being charged £62 to attend the clash.

The North Londoners are certainly not alone in this saga, with Gunners fans charged £59 to visit Chelsea a few weeks back.

4^th place trophy

While the club may try to drill into its supporters that this is fantastic news, it could turn out to be disastrous all round should Arsenal fail to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Wenger has gone on record several times saying that qualifying for Europe’s elite competition brings in a huge sum of money, hence deeming qualification for the tournament as “like a trophy”.

Spending power

This may seem like an odd comment, but the move could prove to be Arsenal shooting themselves in the foot. If the club are reluctant to spend some cash on brining in new players now, imagine what they are going to be like should they fail to make the top four and miss out on all those millions.

The fact that ticket prices have been frozen has made it even more imperative that we see some new additions before Friday, but with less than 48 hours to go it is not looking too promising.

Failure to qualify for the Champions League, coupled with untouched ticket prices could leave Wenger with a lot less money to try to attract top-qualify players to the side.

It would appear that the message is spend now or regret it.

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