Arsenal's mysterious finances: Your thoughts?

Jens' Face

re: Inler

I wonder if it's taking so long because AW is also keeping his options open on other dms, like Alonso or Yaya, where he has to wait on other developments before he can get the player.

That's pure speculation, of course.

Brwned

Either of those two would be very impressive signings, as would Toulalan who I heard you were linked with. The chances of you signing them are as likely as us signing someone like Henry though.

I haven't been that impressed with Inler, but he's one of those players who never seems to get praise and I didn't pay much attention to him so he could be a good signing.

Brwned

Just flicked on to Arsenal TV there and some grey haired guy in a blue shirt, who I assume is associated with the club somehow, said that the Inler transfer won't happen and he was very sure of it. Something along the lines of "there have been some progressions in talks between the player and the club that the clubs hierarchy aren't exactly too happy about".

Any Arsenal fans know what he means?

dumbo

Apparently he wasn't willing to be paid in Monopoly money. Didn't go down to well with the arsenal board.

hmmm

Jens' Face

gosh darn it!

we're doomed

Brwned

People were saying that last year, all you need is a bit of luck and you'll have a definite chance.

cesc's_mullet

Mmm, that's true.

But we have to consider the fact they're rather vehement about their stance on keeping him, also apparently Newcastle had made a firm bid which could have complicated the transfer a tad.

I'm subscribing to the theory that he was being typical meticulous Wenger, and in the mean-time giving Denilson and Diaby a proper chance to prove their worth as a partner for Cesc.

cesc's_mullet

Mate look at our pre-season injury list.

It will only get worse during the season, we need more than luck.

Brwned

The team right now is good enough to beat anyone in the league, and as long as they perform in the big games then there's always a good chance.

Keep the faith.

Jens' Face

any more explanation of what Brwned saw on TV? I haven't seen anything pop up on NewsNow

edit:
ah, I see from Arsenal-Mania that it was Steve Stammers and he gave no explanation or context for how he knew. Sounds like it could well be pundit nonsense. (The fact that he was on ATVO doesn't lend his word any more creedence than it originally had.)

So back to square one: Inler could still be in the cards, or we could be planning to dominate England and Europe both with the massive cm pairing of Denilson and Ramsey.

WeWonItTwoTimes

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...al/7587530.stm


Arsene Wenger has the financial resources available to spend £30m on a player if he so chooses, according to Arsenal director Danny Fizsman.

The Gunners have lost Mathieu Flamini, Alexander Hleb and Gilberto since last season, but Wenger has so far recruited only Samir Nasri and Mikael Silvestre.

"If he said 'I want this guy and he's £30m, can I buy him?', the answer is yes. Absolutely yes," revealed Fizsman.

"It's not our decision who he spends money on, nor will it ever be ours."

Arsenal have not won a trophy for three seasons and there have been calls from supporters for Wenger to bolster his squad with some big-money signings.

The Gunners have brought in midfielder Nasri from Marseille for £12m and defender Mikael Silvestre from Manchester United for an undisclosed fee, thought to be under £1m.

But Fizsman added: "There were great expectations and hopes that we would buy heavily this summer.

"We totally back Wenger, it's his decision. If Arsene found the right player he would buy that player, but at the moment he hasn't."

And Fizsman admitted that if the Gunners were to buy established players before the transfer window shuts on 1 September, it could cause problems.

"There's a dual problem for him," said the Arsenal director of Wenger.

"If we buy star names, you are talking about relatively mature players who need to be integrated into the way Arsene plays - they don't know our style and it also impacts on the youngsters who have been brought through."

Wenger recently said in an interview that he wants to develop his first-team players through the youth ranks at the club.

The Frenchman said that he decided on this policy during the club's development of their Emirates Stadium, which opened at the start of the 2006-07 season.

"When we decided to build the stadium I wanted to anticipate the possibility of financial restrictions, so I concentrated on youth," Wenger said in an interview with the Independent newspaper.

"I also felt the best way to create an identity with the way we play football, to get players integrated into our culture, with our beliefs, our values, was to get them as young as possible and to develop them together.

"I felt it would be an interesting experiment to see players grow together with these qualities, and with a love for the club."




As many of us had suspected all along there is a perfectly innocent explanation with regards to Arsenal's lack of transfer activity.

The mad scientist is conducting his own experiment.

WeWonItTwoTimes

If Theo Walcott is going to ask for a pay rise at the Emirates, he couldn’t pick a better time. Arsenal are about to announce record turnover figures, making the club the world’s third-richest behind Real Madrid and Manchester United. Walcott, on about £15,000 a week, will have no shortage of suitors if the Gunners don’t bump up his salary in line with his enhanced status after his dazzling performance in Zagreb.

Arsenal’s annual results, to be released on September 26, will show that turnover from the whole business has rocketed to about £225m. Club sources say the figures for the year ending May 31, 2008, will also reveal record pretax profits of nearly £40m, while the group’s operating profit is expected to comfortably exceed £50m.

Twelve months ago, Arsenal reported a turnover of £200.8m to become Britain’s richest club, but they were overtaken by United (£245m) and Chelsea (£223m). In the global rankings, Real Madrid reign supreme after recording a turnover of £263m for the 2006-7 season.

Although Arsenal failed to win a trophy for the third consecutive season, the results demonstrate the success of the Emirates stadium and the board’s policy of living within its means. Arsenal hosted 31 home matches last season to increase match-day revenue to more than £96m, while the club received an extra £17m in broadcasting revenue compared with the previous year through the “uplifted” Premier League TV contract.

Although Arsenal’s turnover figure includes nonrecurring property income, the club is expected to report more than £200m from its “core football activities”. The figures are “before player trading and depreciation” and do not take into account this summer’s transfer dealings. Players’ wages will not be revealed in the report, but it is understood that the wages-to-turnover ratio has fallen below 50%, the lowest in the league.

With the club £245m in debt and having to service annual repayments of £24m, much interest will centre on its success in selling flats at Highbury Square amid the economic downturn. Arsenal announced earlier this year that they had sold 91% of the flats, but some buyers are understood to be willing to forfeit their deposits and the club may have to adjust its prediction of recouping £350m from the redevelopment of Highbury.

Meanwhile, Arsenal are close to appointing their new chief executive. The board reduced the shortlist to two candidates, understood to be 49-year-old former Vodafone executive Paul Donovan and Alistair Mackintosh, the former Manchester City chief executive. The final interviews were held last week and an announcement is imminent.


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/spo...cle4748552.ece


The football side of the business is clearly very strong, but it will be interesting to see how many flat buyers forfeit their deposits.

I suspect not enough to make any serious impact, the buyers are probably mainly rich Arsenal supporters.

peterstorey

Yeah that looks like a downgrade from the £400M top forecast (but stlll ahead of my £300M projection). Ie they're looking at £250M profit I'd say £200M tops.

WeWonItTwoTimes

So you invested £100m in the Highbury project? I thought it was nearer £200m.

How much of the £24m in debt servicing payments are capital repayments? £10m ish?

peterstorey

Hmm might be losing the plot here. I reckoned on the profit being £100m at today's projection when it looked like £200m a year or so back - hence reducing the stadium debt to £160M. I think I overlooked the sunk cost of £100M which should be added to then £100M outstanding loan.

The interest rate on the loan is about 5.5% so about £10M is repayment of capital (ie pay off in 25 years-ish)

WeWonItTwoTimes

Okay.

Any recent developments on the Queensland Road project?

peterstorey

No, I think they're rejigging that one with the developers. Given the climate I think no-one's in a hurry. I suspect the government will give a fillip to the construction industry before too long - they'll probably hope to run off the back of that.

WeWonItTwoTimes

Yup, I'm sure you can afford to sit tight and wait for the storm to pass.

The figures from the football side of the business are very encouraging, though your poor commercial revenue (compared to the top European clubs) and lack of ''on pitch'' success is keeping you well behind a certain club that plies its trade in the north west.

That is slightly unfair though as I shouldn't be comparing your club with such a powerhouse.

maniak

Nice.

peterstorey

You shouldn't be comparing an overleveraged business with a well-run one I'd say. What does happen to the remaining PIKS if they're not redeemed?

WeWonItTwoTimes

They would be converted into equity.

I think that's pretty irrelevant though as they will have been refinanced long before 2017*. They would also be repaid if the Glazers decided to sell up.

* Providing there is at least one bank left able to lend us money.