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Arsenal could receive a significant financial windfall ahead of the summer transfer window should they triumph in the Champions League this season, with bookmakers largely in agreement that they are now favourites for the trophy. Mikel Arteta's side sealed a 3-1 aggregate victory over Bayer Leverkusen in the last-16 of the competition this week.

The Gunners had ground out a 1-1 draw at the BayArena in the first leg before completing a reasonably straightforward 2-0 win at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday. Arteta will now shift his focus to confronting Sporting CP in the Champions Leaguequarter-finals next month.

However, even if their European journey concludes against Sporting, Arsenal have already beengenerously compensated for their performances in the competition this season. Like every other club in the European elite competition, the north Londoners received £16.2million from UEFA simply for participating.

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Governing body UEFA provides £1.82m per win in the league phase, meaning Arteta's side collected an additional £14.6m, having triumphed in all eight of their matches. There was a further £8.5m distributed for topping the table.

They also compensate clubs that finish in the top eight and progress directly to the last 16, so Arsenal banked a further £9.6m for their achievements. Arteta had secured the club a staggering £48.9m in prize money before the knockout stages had even commenced.

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Reaching the quarter-finals recently boosted their coffers by £10.9m, meaning the club have so far banked nearly £60m from the competition. They are anticipated to increase their substantial haul by overcoming Sporting across the two forthcoming legs.

Should Arsenal progress to the semi-final and final, they will pocket an additional £13m and £16.1m, respectively. The Champions League victors are then granted a further £5.7m, with bookmakers appearing to concur that the Gunners are presently favourites to succeed despite never having claimed the competition before.

Sky Bet, Paddy Power and Betfair all consider Arsenal favourites with all three currently offering odds of 9/4 for the Gunners to triumph, aided by the fact the toughest fixture they will potentially face before the final is against Barcelona.

That assessment has been echoed by various pundits, including Jamie Carragher, who has labelled Arsenal as the tournament favourites given they are on the more advantageous side of the draw.

He said: "I wouldn't say I enjoy watching Arsenal play but you have to respect the results they're getting. They've found a way to stay in games and that's what matters in the Champions League. If they keep doing that, they could be the English team that goes the furthest in the competition. I wouldn't rule out a semi-final - or even more."

Speaking on The Rest is Football, it seems fellow pundit Micah Richards shares the same view. He said: "They're top of the Premier League, and I think Arsenal are the favourites for the Champions League because I think it will suit them more than the domestic games.

"In the Champions League the games might get a little bit more stretched whereas in the Premier League everyone is going to that low block against them."

Securing the trophy would deliver a £94.6m financial boost come May. A share of that sum would then probably be assigned to sporting director Andrea Berta's summer transfer kitty.

That would enable Arteta to strengthen his already exceptional squad even further, providing them the advantage to retain any titles they may claim this season next term.

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