Arsenal in 2026/7. What is the transfer position going to be like this summer?

The 2024/25 season was a dip, but we recovered and had the best defence in many a long year.  In fact, the last time we conceded fewer goals was in the title-winning season of 2003/4 and that was only by one goal.   

But we are being reminded in one or two articles that just as a club can rise, so it can fall.   The example of course that they give is invariably Liverpool alongside commentaries of the departure of Arne Slot one year after he won the title for Liverpool.

Fortunately, the Arsenal board are made of sterner stuff, and just as they refused to cave in to demands for Arteta’s sacking after two eighth-place finishes, they obviously won’t change the management team now.   There are indeed two philosophies in football – one is that you are only as good as your last three games, and the other that this “only as good as” philosophy is nonsense.  Arsenal’s board is in the latter group.

Better still, financially 2024/25 was as close as the club has got to break even, as we have seen in many a long year – the club lost £1.4m.  Of course, the big factor that is involved in this is the Champions League.  There is hope that the figures for 2025/6 t might be profitable given that last year’s turnover was a record £691m.   

But the sort of player sales we have recently seen cannot continue, and this will indeed put a further stress on the finances.   In the year to May 2024 Arsenal lost £17.7m; the aim will be to get this down further.  

And in this regard, Arsenal’s financial figures for the year, including winning the title and getting to the final of the Champions League, will look good.  But we are getting to a situation where, in footballing terms, Arsenal is bringing in as much money as it can.    Which is why we are seeing prices rise for admission to games.

The loss for 2023/24 of £17.7m was covered by the owners, of course, and no doubt the owners would like their investment to turn in a profit at some stage.   So how does the club up its income?   

At this point, we need to take note of what is known as the “commercial strategy” which takes in income from sources other than player sales and season tickets.   This involves not just the money from the cups already mentioned but from the broadcasting revenue both in the UK and overseas, and of course, advertising around the ground and in association with Arsenal’s name.  

But against this, transfer fees and player salaries are constantly rising at above the rate of inflation, not least because managers whose strategies are not working in terms of taking their clubs up the league, invariably resort to buying more and more players at higher and higher fees as they become more and more desperate.  The club will also be looking to secure Arteta’s future (he has one season left on his contract) – and those who work alongside him, and again, more money is involved.   (It is reported that Arteta earns about £10m a season at Arsenal with a £5m bonus for qualifying for the next season’s Champions League.)

But there are two more factors that influence Arsenal’s position financially.   One is that they did spend a lot of money on transfers last summer, and they have, in recent years, offloaded a lot of players.  Income from player sales is likely to be down, therefore, but players who might be an upgrade on those we have are going to be very expensive.

So, although the media are already packed with stories of who Arsenal are about to buy, I suspect the number of exciting purchases could be modest.    However, there is good news, and that is the return to form and favour of Lewis-Skelly.   The fact that Arsenal could work with the young player to help rediscover and indeed re-develop his talent offers a model for the future for other young players, both now and in the future.  The more youngsters who make it through the ranks to the first team, the more highly talented young players apply to join Arsenal’s academy rather than anyone else’s.