High wages, the lack of Champions League revenue and Kroenke’s parsimony are making the Gunners uncompetitive
It was the news that Arsenal supporters had longed to hear and it was delivered with an uncharacteristic flourish by Ivan Gazidis. The date was 6 June 2013 and the club’s then chief executive told a group of journalists that Arsenal’s austerity era – necessitated by the move to Emirates Stadium in 2006 – was over.
The long-term commercial deals that Arsenal had felt compelled to lock into so they could secure money up front for the stadium were expiring and the result, according to Gazidis, was an “escalation” in the club’s “financial firepower”. Anything was possible on the transfer market, he suggested, including the signing of A-list players. “We are moving into a new phase where, if we make our decisions well, we can compete with any club in the world,” Gazidis said.
Written by David Hytner
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/jan/18/arsenal-era-austerity-emery-finance-stan-kroenke-champions-league under the title “Arsenal’s era of austerity is not over yet: Emery must make do and mend | David Hytner”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
