Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis has attracted criticism from fans for his suggestion that a top-four finish for the club is not everything.

The Gunners announced a healthy half-year pre-tax profit of £49.5m on Monday, but Gazidis said that the money would not be thrown at big signings.

"There are very few clubs in the world that you would go to ahead of Arsenal in terms of consistently being there," Gazidis said.

"I don't see that [finishing fifth] adversely impacting on our ability to attract players or retain the top players that we have."

Spokesman for fans' organisation Arsenal FC, not PLC, Mike Barnett said that Gazidis was misguided. That is a ridiculous thing for Ivan to have said," Barnett opined.

"In the past few years we have qualified for the Champions League and our best players have still left, so how can we expect to keep them if we aren't in the Champions League?

"For us the Champions League is the be-all and end-all."

Arsenal are currently fourth in the Premier League, level on points with fifth-placed Chelsea.