Granit Xhaka admits Arsenal cannot afford to be out of the Champions League for a third year running.
The Gunners blew a big chance to finish in the top four with a woeful end to the season and just one win in the last five games.
And beating Chelsea in the Europa League final to get back into the Champions League is a must.
“We have to be in the Champions League,” said the Switzerland midfielder. “We didn’t play there for two years and we have to be there next season.
“All the players, the fans, the club – we want to play against the best teams, and the best teams are in the Champions League.
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“We speak about the season, what was good, what was bad, what can happen if we win the Europa League.
“We had a good season but lost our way a little bit in the last five games. But if you’re in the Europa League final and can take a trophy, get into the Champions League… we’ll take that.
“I don’t speak about the past. I have to speak about the final, we can’t change nothing in the Premier League, it’s over.
“What we can change is winning the Europa League and being back in the Champions League.”
Arsenal were almost a fixture in Europe’s top club competition under Arsene Wenger and it was a tough task for Unai Emery to follow in the footsteps of a managerial legend.
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But Xhaka insists the new boss can go from having a “great” season to it being perfect.
He said: “If you come to a club and come after a coach who was at this club for 22 years, you’re new here, you have to change little things, big things, it’s not so easy.
“If you see his first season, it was great, in my opinion, and if you can win a trophy and go back to the Champions League then it’s the perfect season.”
Xhaka was reluctant to discuss whether this has been his best season for Arsenal but it feels like he has risen to a new challenge of playing under Emery.
He also believes Emery’s remarkable record in the Europa League – he won it three times running at Sevilla – gives them an edge, while a clean sweep of finalists for this competition and the Champions League is a good advert for the English top flight.
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Xhaka said: “We don’t speak about it to each other but he speaks with us about his own experience and how he won the trophy three times.
“He would be the first coach if wins a fourth, so it’s nice if you are alone at the top.
“If you’re three times in the final in the Europa League you have a lot of experience, know how you feeling, how is the pressure and anything else stays within our group. He takes away the pressure but if you are in a final there is always pressure.
“The finals show how strong the league it is. It is the strongest league in the world, better than Spain.
“I’ve never played in Spain, but I’ve played in Germany, I’ve played here and I can only say in my experience that it is strong enough, the English league.”
