For a Premiership neutral, many of the big questions about the forthcoming season relate to Arsenal. It could be a make or break season for them and Arsene Wenger. I like the kind of football that Wenger provides, but at that level of football, it is also important to win trophies. Should Arsenal fail to qualify for the Champions League next month it will leave a gap of around £25m in their finances.
For a Premiership neutral, many of the big questions about the forthcoming season relate to Arsenal. It could be a make or break season for them and Arsene Wenger. I like the kind of football that Wenger provides, but at that level of football, it is also important to win trophies. Should Arsenal fail to qualify for the Champions League next month it will leave a gap of around £25m in their finances.
When Arsenal moved to the Emirates five years ago, part of the rationale was that the extra income generated would allow them to compete in the transfer market with the top clubs in Europe. But now Arsenal fans fear that they have become a selling club. Of course, Manchester City and even Chelsea could eventually get caught out by the financial fair play rules. But it is clear that Uefa is going to be flexible in their interpretation and nothing much may happen for five years, even if spending will have to be reined in to some extent. Manchester City are also taking steps to boost their income.
Arsenal’s turnover is second only to that of Manchester United, but their commercial income is about £50m lower. Their deals were negotiated in 2004 when they needed the money for the move from Highbury and they are not due for renewal until 2014. Liverpool’s shirt sponsorship and kit deals are now worth £45m a year compared with Arsenal’s £14m.
Arsenal’s wage bill at £110m is not far short of that at United, but it is more equitable so that star players get relatively less. Wenger thinks that this promotes squad harmony and maybe it does, but it strikes me as a rather French way of looking at things. In that connection I am looking forward to French football writer David Ranc’s forthcoming book on Arsenal to be published by Manchester University Press (alongside our own book on the Europeanisation of football: I will see if I can get a discount deal on this for our readers).
Many commentators also think that the dismissal of David Dein as vice-chairman in 2007 left the club without someone who knew how to play the football game and could influence the sometimes stubborn Wenger.
One shouldn’t overdo the gloom, of course. Sometime it seems as if it is open season with the media and Arsenal and they are targeting Wenger in the way that they do with some politicians. It would be good for football if a self-sustaining financial model could be seen to work. But there is no escaping that there are real challenges to be faced.
It was all much simpler when the Arsenal stadium mystery was solved!