By Tony Attwood
When these little themes emerge they tend to flourish like wildfire. Here’s one from “Suburban Gooners”, a blogetta. Sorry about the odd punctuation, I’ve copied it exactly.
I support Arsenal: I have been lied to
Hello. How are you doing? Hopefully you are holding up ok? Given the circumstances?
After all, three months ago you were told that Arsenal had a ‘war chest’ of around £200million to spend. You were fed lines by those who are used as PR mouthpieces for the club who you might not blame for the fact that they have been fed this situation, but I’m sure you certainly feel like those who fed that information were the ones feeding the lies.
And we know they are lies because yesterday those same mouthpieces were saying that after the sale of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for £35million rising to £40million – all but confirmed with him pictured in a lift in a Liverpool kit yesterday – meant that in fact this summer Arsenal are in profit
Let’s try it through and see how it goes. The money issue is simplicity itself: Kroenke’s clubs make profits they don’t win titles. Just go and look; all the data is there.
The £200m story hit the media (again) on 12 April this year. Here’s how the Metro ran it
“Arsenal will give Arsene Wenger a £200million budget in the summer transfer window, according to reports.
“The Daily Mirror claims that despite the Gunners’ alarming slump and the threat of no Champions League football next season, the 67-year-old is poised to sign a new two-year contract.”
And the Mirror said,
“Arsenal are ready to spend £200million in the next window to fix their squad — and Arsene Wenger will be the man splashing the cash.
“Manager Wenger is still expected to be in charge when the summer transfer dealing starts, despite the increasingly bitter fan backlash, as the Gunners prepare for the biggest revolution of his 21-year reign.”
No source, no backup, just a story. But in fact it was all just a rehash of a story from July 2015, again in the Mirror which said, Lord Harris “told the Daily Mail: ‘We could go into the market and probably buy any player in the world, apart from half a dozen who are un-buyable. In the accounts, there’s over £200 million in the bank. You could say to Arsene we’ve got no money and he wouldn’t worry, or you could give him £100m and he might not spend it’.”
It begins to unravel a bit doesn’t – especially with it being the rehash of an old story. But that’s journalists for you.
Journalist: “Sorry boss, I was down the pub and got plastered.”
Editor: “Same old story then. What did we run this time last year – find it and we’ll do it again”
Anyway, here is the next bit of the 2 year old speech, which was the source…
“At the moment there are no plans to sign anyone, unless he finds a real superstar like Mesut Özil or Alexis Sánchez. He’s looking for one of those but there aren’t many available.
“We would back him to break the club’s transfer record. If he wanted the man, he could have him. Apart from Messi and Ronaldo, he could have any player. We will probably have to break the club record to get the man he wants.
“We get a list of the players that Wenger wants,’ said Lord Harris. “On the list is a centre forward, but I’m not going to tell you who he is. You’ve got to get the other team to want to sell him, but I think he wants to come. It basically comes down to whether the other team can find a superstar to replace him, because they don’t have to sell.”
So a promise? Well, yes it was a director talking, but I’ve actually been physically in the room and heard Lord Harris talking (although non this subject) and found him to be, well, what shall I say, less than wholly convincing. I mean really, not convincing. I would be cautious with the old chap. (I can say that as he is older than me).
The point about that old £200m story, is that it is only part of the tale. As I understand the deal with the banks (and of course I can only report the details that have come out in various financial bulletins and releases that the club, as a quoted company, has to reveal) the deal with the banks to borrow money for the Emirates involved various conditions, one of which was to keep a hefty sum in reserves, in case of a crisis.
As I read the accounts the full debt of the Ems hasn’t been paid yet, and like all mortgages, even though a lot has been paid off, the monthly bill remains the same (it is balanced out during the lifetime of the mortgage, so that, as with a house, you pay the same amount each month right up to the end, just that at the start you are paying mostly interest, and at the end mostly capital).
So the guarantee of the money in the bank is still there.
In the end I think knowing the source of a quote is important, and reading the whole transcript of a statement is important. But well, those bloggettas. Pesky blighters what?
But what of the sale of the Ox? That’s a different scenario, but again one that can be readily unfolded. But I am running late this morning, so I will publish that at lunchtime, all being well.
- So with one day to go, who is still in our 25 man senior Squad?
- Football enters the end of the rule of law, as a new French Revolution might be on the cards
- The list of every one of the 40 players tipped to be leaving Arsenal this summer.
Would love to see your post WHEN Sanchez is sold.
It better be good.
Money talks.
The problem is Tony, if this Lord Harris is a bit of an Old Duffer prone to exaggeration, half truths, even lies, then he is culpable in bringing a lot of this criticism upon us.
If, as you suggest, what he is saying is not entirely accurate, then surely somebody else at the club should ‘put the record straight’ so to speak, because if they don’t people are going to pick up on it and use it against us.
As you, and anyone else who reads my ramblings will know, I am an ardent supporter of the path the Club has chosen to follow. But Having chosen that path, and as such placed upon the Club the financial restrictions it does, surely it is only fair to the supporters, me included, to be honest and open about our finances, particularly, and most importantly, how much truly is available for the manager to spend on transfers.
So that being said, and in the event of nothing being said by the Club to contradict or refute the mutterings of Lord Harris, I have to say it’s hardly surprising that it is being used as a stick to batter us with.
Until Arsenal Football Club bring some clarity to the financial situation this is bound to happen, and for once I actually don’t blame the media, or indeed the fans, for getting a bit uppity about it.
It’s up the Arsenal to do or say something to bring some clarity to the situation.
Tony
Please can you let me know if in the whole history of Arsenal we have ever had an owner who invested large amounts in the club without taking any money out. I think that we have had shareholders like Kroenke for most if not all of our history. Or is Kroenke an exception?
Thanks
Last day of the transfer window and I’m not sure why you’ve chosen to moan about an article written in the Metro in April- everyone knows the Metro prints any gossip it can find about any football club. No one takes it seriously.
However, your comment on Lord Harris is interesting. Exactly what an 80 year old carpet salesman who owns no shares in arsenal is doing on the club’s BOD is beyond me. Apart from providing discounts on the undoubtedly plush carpets that bedeck the boardroom and club offices, I can’t think of any reason.
Also, you’re right to point out the financial restrictions on arsenal. In order to secure the stadium loan arsenal had to guarantee a certain amount of money remained in the bank. This effectively hamstrung the club when it moved and lead to the ‘austerity period’.
Kroenke should have put his hand in his back pocket during this period. In the end it would have made more sense for arsenal and himself. For several years even a moderate outlay from Stan would have made all the difference. The club would have been more successful on and off the pitch and therefore more valuable and more secure now.
Instead arsenal fanatically pursued ‘self sustainability’. I believe Wenger himself now knows this was a mistake.
Ox is gone for a club that didnt win anything for a long time, cos he didnt believe in club that win 6 trophy in last 4-5 years
nice logic
During the last dsys of this sesson’s transfer deadline day, and as far as Arsenal are concerned in it, only the leaving of Gibbs from Arsenal on a permanent deal to WBA this summer has so far been announced by WBA and confirmed by Arsenal. The reported Oxlade’s move to Liverpool FC who was reported to be undergoing a medical there to conclude a permanent deal to the Reds has not yet been announced as a done deal. And the reported envisaged move of Alexis Sanchez to Man City looks to be hanging in the balance as no further news on his move to City has surfaced on the net after we heard that Arsenal have rejected Man City’s £50m bid for him which has no any Man City:s player swap included in the bid as Arsenal have requested it be included. And apart of the hear says, there is no any concrete news that says Arsenal are about to sign any top quality during this deadline day dealings.
Let’s put behind us that Lord Harris’ claim of £200m fund allegedly available in the Arsenal bank account out of which transfer kitty can be made available to Le Prof to do top quality transfer business and move forward from that. I think some £90m was made available to Le Prof last season to do the transfers of Xhaka, Mustafi, Perez, Aseno and Nwakali. And in business terms, has he recoup these amounts of money he has spent in signing these five players for Arsenal? If he had, it must be negligible and not substantial. I think for this season he will have the opportunity to recoup for his last and this seasons incoming transfer spendings. So, for out of the total £145m he would potentially have spent in recruiting 5 new players for Arsenal last season and Lacazette this season, I think Le Prof has so far recouped £10*2+10+7 = £29. But if the Ox, Sanchez, Perez and 2 others sale went through, I think Le Prof will recoup all that £145m he has potentially spent on incoming transfers last season and this season and will be on a clean slate position to start another new top quality players recruitment for Arsenal as from next January window.
@Nitram,
Your point about being open about what the AFC has to carry out transfers with is understandable as it might well make fans and the Press less critical of how the so called ‘war chest’ is spent.
The potential transfer deal partners will also have access to such information and can use it for good or for ill, depending on what advantages it would confer on them. For me AFC would deal in transfers more smoothly if the ‘correct’ information on finance is not out there than if it is.
The Club needs room to maneuver when deals become protracted or delayed over financial capacities.
https://twitter.com/LFC
ox is gone
…and he’s smiling again!!!
poor boy, happy at last
Indeed AlexanderHenry I would agree. He owns horses and makes donations to schools (which often then take his name) and he is 206th in the Sunday Times Rich List 2006, with an estimated wealth of £285m.
As for why I chose this subject, it was as an example of the way the bloggettas snipe at Arsenal hour by hour day by day writing silly stuff. It seems to me to be a valid choice of topic since so many correspondents here seem to take these pieces as being based on reality.
At least he probably won’t be kicked all over the park as was being done during Arsenal games.
The PIGMOB may cut him a break being an England international and all.
And those ex Liverpool players turned media experts will be positively gushing about him.
Good luck OX .
The latest media reports has suggested that the Ox has been officially signed by Liverpool for a reported initial £35m that could go up to £40m. And if this media reports turned out to be true, then Le Prof has recovered a total of £64m out the total £145m he has potentially spent on 5 new player signings for Arsenal last season and so far just one signing he did that cost Arsenal in transfer money this season. Kolasinac was signed on the free. But Le Prof will still have about £11m to recoup even if Man City sign Alexis from us today. Therefore, he still has to sell at least 2 of his fringe players today before he can balance the books.
Nonetheless, the new Arsenal transfer rumour that has emerged on the net is suggesting that Arsenal are interested in signing Julian Draxler from PSG today if possible. I think PSG have to sell one of the tops made surplus to requirements as a result of their signing Neymar to avoid been hit by FFP if they sign Mbappe from Monaco today. But surprisingly, the Germany team manager has appeared in his reported statement today to be opposing Draxler coming to Arsenal. What have we done to him?
Nevertheless, if Arsenal can borrow interest free money from Stan Kroenke and pay him installmentally later to enable them pursue the signing of Draxler today let them borrow the money from Stan and let him please be kind to us and gives Arsenal the money immediately. Let Arsenal use all the proceeds they’ll get from all their sales this season to balance the club’s account that has been indicating red since last season I suppose.
Bobome
I understand your point. I have said similar myself before. But I feel we have, due to many factors, reached a point where keeping the truth hidden will have a more detrimental effect on the Club, the Manager, and the team, than will the revelation that perhaps we do indeed have (I have no idea either way) such reserves of cash available for transfers.
Where as before revealing our resources may of invoked an increase in the price of any player we may of been looking at, I believe the current financial situation regarding transfers means the prices have already risen to there current peak. In other words knowing we have a war chest or not will make very little difference to the price of any player we may be looking at.
Tony
“…..since so many correspondents here seem to take these pieces as being based on reality.”
That’s all very well but in the absence of any other creditable information being made available from the Club, it is bound to be taken at face value.
Why Arsenal, or even yourself, would feel this is a satisfactory situation given the vitriol likely to be aimed at the club on the back of it, I don’t know.
I certainly don’t know whether Lord Harris’s figures are based in fact or not. I have no idea.
But my point is, in the absence of any contradictory statements from AFC, fiction or not, it is by default going to become a fact.
So why lay ourselves open to this kind of ridicule? Don’t we get enough without in effect, shooting ourselves in the foot?
This is loyalty. AW stayed with Arsenal when he could have easily left.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/manchester-united-arsene-wenger-alex-ferguson-replace-met-latest-a7921521.html
Fortunately he stayed.
@Nitram, AW laughed off the Lord’s £200 million comment and said it’s not true when asked by the media.
£60 million latest bid for alexis from city (sky)
Charlie nicholas on sky ain’t happy. ‘what is happening to my club’.
Sanchez bid accepted
Polo
Thanks for that.
A little expansion on that from AFC might not go amiss at this time.
Still there’s time enough yet to spend that and more before midnight !
Who really cares if the money is available for transfers or not?! The club is clearly extremely wealthy:
£142.8M per year from new TV deals
(http://uk.businessinsider.com/total-prize-money-each-premier-league-club-won-in-lucrative-season-2017-5/#7-everton-1324-million-finished-7th-14)
Net transfer this year +£27 (Ox £40, Woj £11, Gibbs £7, Gabriel £10M, Hinds £2M, Toral £3M – Lacazette £46M, Kolasinac £0M)
Ever increasing share price:
http://www.stockopedia.com/share-prices/arsenal-holdings-OFEX:AFC/
And no money for new transfers unless Alexi leaves. Hahaha. Hilarious. Arsenal is run by a bunch a greedy rich pricks that are interested in profits and money. If we were interested in the EPL or the champs league things would be run very differently. Kroenke wants the money and Wenger and Gazidis are the men to deliver him exactly that so this is the trio we get.
Once again Tony your timing is impeccable. Throw back to a 3 month old statement from someone noone actually cares about to try and justify why Arsenal aren’t spending money. How much was your new contract with Arsenal?
Jimbo, please explain to me what the share price has to do with this.
Alexander – if Charlie reads our latest post that might help him.
Guillem Balague believes that Thomas Lemar will snub any attempts from Arsenal players to persuade him to join the club.
“Lemar is with Oliver Giroud, Laurent Koscielny and Alexandre Lacazette right now, with the France national team. They will be telling him, banging on this door, getting him to join Arsenal, but he will say no. He does not want to go.
EVERYONES AT IT, this guy pisses me off, he knows a few people and wrote a biography for pep and thinks he’s the messiah! I mean his voice pisses me off!
Serge moved: Whey, good buy, they can linp about with a RB and no LB
If Liverpool keep Coutinho, more fool them, the season after Hazard first smashed it and Barca and Real came knocking, he didn’t score until Terry made him take a penalty. So it will be a shame for the young man! Neymar is just bitter he got offladed to make the budget work, rather than Luis Suarez, don’t cry man!
Lemar, we bid £92m come on, did we £$%!, we missed out and we don’t get odds from Sky on VVD! but Liverpool are splashing money about here there and everywhere with the Spanish window not closing for a while yet and Countinho is staying!
Ox was a brilliant piece of business, only hope Debouchy and Theo can go in this window, Perez all day right wing, his stats! I just want players who want to play for us!
Alexis isn’t going, they are surely just cooking up the Arsenal fans who are dumb. It’s like giving the season away, and making top four a monstrous task! If we would send him to City, why not Juventus?
Just get rid of Debouchy and Walcott and I’ll be happy.
If we get a DM and CB I’ll be ecstatic.
if we buy a quality RW and sell Monreal, I’ll stand outside Chelsea naked on matchday with an Arsenal scarf around my bonce until H&F police come after me again!
Jimbo + in the net transfer income doesn’t translate half as well in terms of share value as a £15m player OX becoming a £40m player.
It would increase dividends which are calculated in Dec on the 15th.
It’s what you would do if you wanted to cash in on a club, raising share value is consistently selling players such as Cesc, Oxlade, Vieria, Cole, Nasri, Ade, Hleb, Anelka, RVP and increasing matchday revenue: Emirates, that is all AW.
If you want to increase share value, you sell of 25% of your club united, then devalue it some more and sell again some more to friends you owe Man U, then you buy players at inflated costs such as £89m or £75m and add them to your balance sheet as assets, you now basically can’t liquidate.
Ox can now only be sold if he becomes a gem and a half. same with many of the recent transfers. Stones, Gabriel, De Bruyne, Sterling on the other hand are good value if they perform, for five years, you get out of it what you put in!
Also NB: someties the fees reported are including the player contract, sometimes just the fee for allowing the transfer. it takes a month or two for the reality to come out!
The Cash reserve is met already, the RVP deal was pivotal, because we had a early repayment clause without penalty. It’s why we sold him then, it was worth it because we needed the cash for the obligation, which suited us, more than the bank, because investment at the time was scary due to economic issues surrounding war/brexit! They didn’t want us to pay early, it was SAF first favour to AW, backhanded, respect, OK take the league and piss off basically. It was a dig and a favour, very SAF!
This is why Usmanov was frozen out, because otherwise he could have pumped in £200m-£300m we could have created shares, increasing his share stake and adding funds for transfers whilst maintaining the reserves. But that meant less dividends for Stan and a few minor share holders who keep undermining our transfer opportunities.
It also set us up for Usmanov takeover, but he declined when he had the chance, out of respect for club policy and then the board froze him out. Speaks volumes for both parties.
Kroenke might be inclined to sell a percentage of his stake so as to not be the controlling share holder soon, given the state of the dollar, vs the fact that impeachment and economic instability back home will devalue it shortly, most likely.
He’s acting exactly like that is his plan!
Perez went back to Deportivo, good for you man, you were good. Obviously too relaxed, and not enjoying the UK, it’s pretty £$tty right now! That’s essentially our money back, I hope it’s an activation clause, after games played, because loan deal could go very wrong, seems a bit of a Costa one, just wants to go home which is fair enough.
Like clockwork, now Debouchy!
Welbeck if someone comes and asks, which from him starting Sunday seems someone asked if he was fit!
Walcott, since he just isn’t playing anywhere at the moment.
Meaning the only players with questionable quality would be Monreal, only pace and tackle positioning when faced up in the final third, which compounds the pace, athleticism situation.
Elneny, because I think he makes a great second Ramsey, but I don’t know without Santi on, he looks like he’s not sure of his role. Which I can understand without a DM.
the only people you can say are questionable after that are Santi and Jack and that’s just can they come back fit: say some hail Mary’s.
Mustarfi is a good buy, clean sheets until he got injured. Like Bellerin, flying till someone injured him.
MBAPPE has only just gone and PSG are already under investigation for it, I’m telling you, I think a load of clubs are about to get smacked with fines and sanctions.
That’s why they are all going for it now! Real are sitting in the cusp, I think they simply want Hazard and De Gea and Laporte and know they can have Eric Pierre. they are just setting it up!
Juventus are full, Bayern are full, United are Full and Chelsea and Liverpool need depth.
City are done as are PSG for the most part and Dortmund are going to lose key personnel and be forced to cash in. Athletico are at the end of an era.
Napoli are OK, one to be wary of, a little Dortmund thing going on there, they could very much benefit from a Giroud.
3hrs to go, he must offload Debouchy. That leaves just Theo, Welbeck and Elneny. Monreal, the rest is quality. 😀
Lemar bid is a lie, smoke screen!
No one is tearing our downs to buy Theo, Jack, Welbeck!!!
Nobody is likely to be, Theo has turned into a £%&@ more ao aince he got hitched, woth hia coffee machine, not a strip tease a f-ong coffee machine. Danny can stay I like him, him and elneny can take every small cup fixture and Europa fixture, make it look good. but lets see, Arsene just got more auport from me now i am certain its not him. SFO letter written tweaking!
I guess the dutch need to replace their manager and how was Lemar half volley ive seen down the park a few times a screamer?!
Campbell just left back to betis.
Also:
Chambers
Holding
Bellerin
Akpom
All qualify as under 21 so that’s that lost down to 23 and then
Campbell
Perez
Oxlade Chamberlain
Have all left
Leavib two spots before we even consider dropping Debouxhy or Montreal or Elneny. Which makes five spots.
Then if you offloaded Danny and Theo it would be another mean 4 home grown players on the squad meaning you could bother with the 4 I removed.
Squad registration is inconsequential irrespective of whether we use your under 21’s.
We have 15 foreign players.
And five not elite class!
A striker and a free player. Kroenke 😛
Please let me say that the Jimbo above is not the usual Jimbo who as you will know is very pro Arsenal in every way but an AAA imposter.
The truth is arsene wengers hands are tied, the boss is kroenke, he only cares to make money, the only way arsenal will be a great footballing club again is when we force kroenke out from our great club and bring back David dean who cared for arsenal, and the only way forward is the fans must start action immediately to rid this blood sucker who is not a arsenal supporter like us.