Do Arsenal need to sell before buying any more players?

 

 

 

• Arsenal: Getting ready to start season 100 (twice)
• As supporters, do we support everything or do we criticise and petition?

By Tony Attwood

Mikel Arteta has, as I am sure you will know, signed six players for fees this summer, the fees ranging from a small amount to lots.    Here’s the official list – the players are all signed permanently and fees have been or are being paid.

• Kepa Arrizabalaga – Chelsea
  Viktor Gyokeres – Sporting Lisbon 
  Noni Madueke – Chelsea 
  Cristhian Mosquera – Valencia 
  Christian Norgaard – Brentford 
  Martin Zubimendi – Real Sociedad 

Unfortunately, the mood has been soured by protests from a minority about signing players from Chelsea, and that may well hinder any further transfers that the club has had in mind.  And indeed could put off other players coming to a club where the support base can turn on a player before he has even arrived.

However, none of this leaves Arsenal as the biggest spenders – Chelsea and Liverpool have spent more this summer with Liverpool spending over £300m.   Fortunately, as we have seen this summer, spending large amounts does not guarantee success, not only because not every player delivers in his new team all that was expected, but also because it can take quite a long while for a lot of new signings to settle even if they do produce results in the end.

In contrast, although Manchester United clearly have the intention of buying their way out of their decline, they have only brought in three players for a total of £136m – and part of their problem may well be that players simply do not want to go to a club with such a negative fan base – something that might now be perceived with Arsenal too following the complaints about one recent signing.

Arsenal in fact has three factors to consider.  Obviously the first is what the player brings to the team.   The second is does the player want to come to a club where a new signing can result in a petition against the player before he has even agreed to come.   And the third is the dreaded FFP regulations, which seem to have multiple levels of interpretation.

Arsenal’s most recent accounts up to 31 May 2024 show a loss of £17.7m, which makes it six years in a row of loss-making, having previously had 16 years in a row of profit.    In fact it is those years of profit that in part allows Arsenal to make losses without incurring the wrath of FFP – at least so far.   

But the losses under KSE’s ownership now have reached £328.7m in these last six years, despite the fact that the club is earning more each year than ever before (£610m in 2023-24)

And here we see another contradiction in some commentaries on Arsenal: some supporters want more and more to be spent on players, but they don’t want to spend more and more on the cost of going into the ground and buying food and drink once inside.

However, Arsenal are not yet teetering on the edge of FFP problems, as the Athletic has estimated Arsenal could lose up to £97m in 2024-25 and still be within the rules.

So yes some more players are possible such as Rodrygo from Real Madrid or Eze from Crystal Palace.   But there are two reasons to think this might not happen.   The first is that clearly, for the owners, the ultimate aim is to balance the books and then make a profit without putting the prices to supporters up further still.

Second, Arsenal’s finances and FFP position were helped by selling Emile Smith Rowe, Eddie Nketiah and Aaron Ramsdale – but I am not sure we have many players left that a) Arsenal want to sell and b) other clubs are willing to pay good money for.

There is also the fact that Arsenal need to keep some way within FFP rules so that if players are urgently needed to cover for a couple of long-term injuries, there is room within the rules (as well as the money from the owners) to allow such purchase/s to be made.

Plus the amount that can be spent on transfers is now being reduced to 70% of revenue.  Arsenal are well within this limit at the moment, but taking the club closer to it, and it does leave less and less room for urgent purchases if needed. 

What’s more Arsenal haven’t yet managed to match Chelsea’s ability to bring in top prices for their unwanted players.   In this regard, Fabio Vieira, Gabriel Martinelli, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Leandro Trossard are mentioned in reports as being for sale – although thankfully not all at once.  The one sale that does seem to be on the move is Reiss Nelson to Fulham, and as he joined Arsenal as a youth player, that sale would certainly help strengthen Arsenal’s FFP figures further.