I think you are wrong here, if this is the case how did ManU manage to sign pogba, and city signed players like Roninho, i am not even sure if they were in the CL when they signed augeuro. The only thing they care about is money, particularly if they view it as being a one of. It might make it a bit harder, and we may need to offer a bit more wages, but in reality one year out of the CL will make very little difference to who we will be able to sign.
As I said I was being flippant, but Utd and City both do what Arsenal have been reluctant to do previously, which is throw extortionate amounts of money at players. How this will play out for next season will be partly down to Wenger's stubbornness, he seems to have been reluctant to pay over the odds before.