The Gunners earned €30million from the Champions League last season. Arsenal are currently just 15th in the Premier League and will struggle to finish top four this season.
“We would rather qualify for it but we have a really sustainable model that can cope without it. Not just cope, but we can do well and compete,” Gazidis said at the Leaders in Football conference at Stamford Bridge.
“It would be very foolish to build a business model that relied on being in the Champions League for perpetuity and I don’t think any clubs do that and, if they do, then they probably aren’t being run as responsibly as they should be.”
The Gunners announced a £15million pre-tax profit in their latest set of financial results last week.
“Every club has the temptation to think that money is the answer to issues and ‘if we only spend just a little bit more, it would push us over the top of a curve’ and that is what drives the cycle of spending that you see in the game and that is not by any means always what is successful, actually,” he continued.
“It is tempting to think that it is. It relieves pressure for a while but actually builds long-term pressure in other ways. We will continue to act with discipline to make sure we have got a good short-term and long-term future.”
