William Gallas has piled pressure on Mikel Arteta by warning him anything but a top-four finish would be a "failure" for Arsenal this season.
The former Gunners captain insists Champions League football is the "minimum" fans expect despite the intense competition to qualify.
Despite sitting sixth in the Premier League table, Arsenal's fate is in their own hands because they have three games in hand on Manchester United and West Ham, who are four points and two points ahead respectively.
However, they are not the only team in the chasing pack, with Wolves and Tottenham also vying to reach Europe's premier club competition.
Given Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea are viewed as shoo-ins to qualify, this essentially leaves five teams competing for the final spot.
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Gallas acknowledges "it's not easy" to qualify for the Champions League, but he is adamant Arteta will have fallen short if he cannot lead Arsenal to fourth.
"If they don’t finish top four, it's a failure. It's that simple," the Frenchman told Metro on behalf of bet365. "When you play and manage a big club like Arsenal, your target is to finish top four.
"I know it's not easy with so many clubs like City, Chelsea, United, Liverpool, Tottenham but that doesn't matter – you have to finish in the top four at a minimum.
"You've got a strong squad with Arsenal, if Arteta doesn't make top four, he's failed."
After a frustrating goalless draw with Burnley in late January, Arsenal boosted their hopes of a top-four finish with a slender win at Wolves last Thursday.
The Gunners did not qualify for any European competition last season, marking the first time in 25 years they had failed to do so.
This has allowed them to focus their efforts domestically this campaign and Arteta has frequently discussed their "objectives" without divulging the club's specific aims.
"You don't know how many points we're going to need to get to the objectives," the Spaniard said after the win at Turf Moor.
"But, as well, we need to look at ourselves and focus on what we're doing and go game by game because we can't look too far ahead.
"They are three big points, especially coming here with the way that they've been playing."
Arsenal last qualified for the Champions League under Arsene Wenger in 2016 and exited at the last-16 stage in what proved to be his penultimate season at the Emirates.
Wenger's successor, Unai Emery, led the club to the Europa League final in 2019, but they were defeated by bitter London rivals Chelsea.
