A guest post from @TraderChris87 .
I cant stand for his figures so dont shoot the messenger.
A common criticism of the club is that “we have massive cash reserves and we don’t spend it”. Someone on Twitter yesterday said to me that in 2009 we had £72m of “spare cash” that we didn’t spend.
When the financial figures we’re released in September of this year there was uproar at the cash reserves figure announced being around the £200m mark. This did not go down well with some fans who perceived gaps in the squad that needed addressing.
Well yesterday I wrote a post on here in which I said there were a lot of stupid fans “who don’t know the first thing about running a football club or economics.” This is a classic example. £208m in cash reserves were announced but anyone who think that there is anywhere near that figure available for spending on players is a complete moron.
First of all the club have to keep £35m of those reserves available for debt servicing, This was written into the contract of the loans for the Stadium construction. According to the ever reliable Swiss Ramble, we owed £53m in past transfer fees (for example, the Ozil transfer) as we negotiated an installments payments on certain transfers so we needed to keep some in reserve to pay those installments. That already accounts for £88m of those cash reserves. Meaning we were at £120m of “spare cash”. However we were owed around £20m from previous player out goings so lets call it £140m.
However the figures announced were as of the end of May. This means that those figures do not include our transfer fees for the summer just gone, With a net spend between £55m-60m this summer, our “spare cash” is down to £80m.
Another thing that must be taken into consideration is that these figures are announced at a time where the club have just got a large majority of the Season Ticket renewals, which mean this figure will always be highest around the time the figures need to be prepared. This is needed for day to day running of the club and paying wages to players and staff until we get a chunk of TV or Commercial revenue. I cannot find any information for when exactly this gets paid to the club. Even with a conservative estimate of £40m of that (Match day revenue is a third of our turnover and roughly estimating half of that (Total 16.66% of Turnover) is season ticket holders (£50m) and our Wages + Operating cost = £240m (16.66% of which is £40m) going to Operating costs and our wage bill. Leaves us with £40m of “spare cash”
Well we have £40m available….why didn’t we spend it?
Well first of all Arsene has mentioned “technical stability” of the squad on numerous occasions. Which essentially means, adding too many new players into the squad at one time can do more harm than good. With our new signings count at five maybe it was a factor in not signing anybody else. When you look at Tottenham & Liverpool adding 8-9 new players last summer and this summer respectively it is difficult to argue with him.
Another reason as to why we may have not signed anyone else is due to the right players not being available or available for a price worth doing a deal at. For example, a few names being floated around this summer as the answer to our perceived problem in defensive midfield were William Cavarlho, Morgan Schneiderlin and Sami Khedira. William Carvalho, a third party own a significant percentage of him meaning that Sporting wanted an extortionate price for him to make up for the share that the third party would be paid. Morgan Schneiderlin, Southampton refused to sell or even negotiate for. Having just sold several players they wanted to steady the ship and were in a financial position to be able to refuse any advances. Sami Khedira on the other hand, rumors were going around that he was available. However at £20m with a year left on his contract and rumored £140,000 per week wage demands (£7m per year), a five year deal would have been costing us at least £60m in total (Fee, Wages, Bonus’, Agent Fees, Signing on Fees etc). All this for a player that was out from November to May last season with a serious ligament injury and has subsequently been injured for 7 weeks of the season this year so far.
Ultimately, nobody knows who Arsene will decide to buy in January/next summer. All I can say is that I’m sure he’ll make the right decisions. Building a team takes time, not just one transfer window. Sometimes you have to wait for the players you want. We could not have got Ozil or Alexis at any other point other than when we did. Lets face it would you have rather paid £30m last summer for Willian or Lamela or wait a year and get Alexis. I know who I would rather have. So I for one would rather have some “spare cash” than players who were not up to the necessary standard Arsene wanted or to improve on the players we have.
Hope everyone has a good day and enjoys the game tonight. COYG!
Positively Arsenal 
I approach the subject of Arsenal Football Club’s finances with the certainty of a blind man lost on a bleak moorland, unaware of my position or direction. To be fair that is the purpose of annual results however. It is only is something truly calamitous is happening in a business that the annual figures reveal the abyss.
We do however seem to have more dosh than we used to – which I think is a good thing, generally. I think it is good that we spend the cash. I am however convinced that quality must dominate our expenditure, not purchase for the sake of purchase and just to quieten the squawling brats among the fan base for a moment.
We have a spanking stadium, comfortable, safe, accessible, great view from almost any seat in the house. That is a huge 100 year investment, bravo.
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Great read and all very much along with what I was thinking but there are thousands of FIFA managers out there who know best. They will keep on slagging off the club, manager, players and all fans who think different. Keep up good work supporting our club with Facts.
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Another great post, I tend to agree with A5 for anyone to 100% nail down a clubs finances is extremly difficult as George was unsucessfully trying to explain to the blinkered shewore. However Chris has resonably assumed the costings of a club that would stop over the top spending. The other thing that Chris has pointed out is how alot of fans assume there is a players shop where you can order the exact requirement for any postion your clubs require well it doesnt exist.
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On the plus side the U19s had a good win over the germans today ended 1-0 but it could and should of been many more. There was some great performces and although Dan Crowley missed a penalty he once again showed we have another Jack W waiting in the wings. Zelalem, although still a little lightweight, has a passing range and accuracy to die for. Peggy and O’conner at CB didnt put a foot wrong and were strong in the air and cool on the ground. In front of them Maitland Niles has compleated the transformation from the wing to CM with ease and cut off the germans link between midfield and attack.Upfront Mavididi (one of the youngest in the side) was very strong linked the play well and took his goal well. On the wings both Iwobi and Willock caused trouble all game and got back to help their full backs Johnson, another younster, and the excellent Tafari Moore who getting better and better and seems to be the next Full back off the production line. Tyrell Robinson came on for Chris Willock and used his speed to further panic the Dortmund defence, he was very unlucky not to score or assist on many occasions being thwarted by the lino more than opposition defence. Even the woodwork got in on the act passing the ball back to Sahin the Dortmund keeper. The only ARSENAL player i havent mentioned is keto the keeper who didnt have alot to do, however his handling when called upon was very clean and efficient. All in all a very good performance in front of an army of scouts,agents and Dortmand fans
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Arsenal team to play Dortmund: Martinez, Chambers, Mertesacker, Monreal, Gibbs, Arteta, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Alexis, Cazorla, Sanogo
subs: Huddart, Koscielny, Bellerin, Flamini, Rosicky, Campbell, Podolski
ox playing his 100th game for AFC tonight.
the moaners will be going into overdrive with Sanogo picked ahead of Podolski and Campbell, it will be all the usual, “its cos he is French”
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“It’s ‘cos he’s French,” and “He scores when he wants!” LOL
No more Yaya Sirnogoals.
OK, if he’d been playing for ManU, I’d I have said he was offside, just a fraction. Well done that linesman.
Good fast game, although we started to slow it down a bit near the end of the half which was just right. Need to be right on their toes when they come back out again. Some good performances out there – especially Gibbs, Chambers, Santi and Ox.
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Is there anything more cruel than scoring after 73 seconds ?
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Cruel to whom – cruel to the Arsenal fans?
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Good man YaYa
Turned the sneers to cheers in a slick bit of finishing – busy all evening – keep at it
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To me Dk – excruciating – teeth drilling – cat sliding down a blackboard – slow and twisting
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Relax anicoll – time for some anaesthetic. Mine’s a Bowmore.
Super goal by Alexis – does he score ordinary ones?
All round solid performance – a word for Martinez who was calm and commanding.
Aaron’s engine seems to be getting run in.
Arteta didn’t look too happy – I think that could be a 3-weeker.
Great refereeing performance too.
So we’re through – the reserves can play in Istanbul – good experience for them haha.
Night all.
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I have a feeling that Sanogo, for all his promise – and he put in a good stint of chasing and harassing tonight – may be one of those players who spend more time in recovery than they do on the pitch.
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wenger just said Arteta will be out for a while, calf injury. Sanogo injured too.
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Pleasing performance – deserved result – and fair play to Dortmund – what a good side – bit short up front but how are they at the bottom in the Bundesliga ?
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I hope your not suggesting their better than Burnley
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I thought ARSENAL were lucky tonight and that kloop fellow had his tactics dead right. I think we should hire the chappie and let Arsene collect his cards he obviously knows nothing.
Naaaaaaah!!!
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just what the doctor ordered…. win with at least 2 goals, clean sheet with Monreal and Per; sanogo 1st competitive goal… Poldi and Campbell get minutes! so many positives!
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Injured: Szczesny Ospina Debuchy Wilshere Diaby Arteta Walcott Özil Welbeck, Sanogo.
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Sanogo has an eye for a nutmeg
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That’s more like it. Good goals and then a touch of the boring, boring Arsenals. Well played the keeper too, and Sanogo was a proper handful all night. Defenders don’t like playing against him, and the goal will have done wonders for him. Hope his injury doesn’t take too long, but I fear it might.
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Chambers had a very mature game tonight, he is showing the sort of skills when on the ball that hint that he would take to the DM role with ease. He is cool and calm, and a good passer, reads the game so well too.
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And a big shout out to Kelly: what a good game from Aaron Ramsey – back to form with a vengeance.
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wenger says Wilshere will see a specialist tomorrow.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20141126/wenger-on-the-win-sanogo-and-wilshere
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An excellent and very plausible argument there Chris, my word, that’s two great pieces for us in as many days….
Good performance tonight, great relief…..
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These posts from TC have turned the season round!
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@FH Thanks for that shout re: Aaron. I haven’t seen the game, as we’re on the road for Thanksgiving. Glad to hear my boy is back. I was hoping he would be. He seemed very determined and confident in the press conference yesterday. Sounds like it was a much needed confidence booster all around.
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Bah! Fie the finance talk–tonight belongs to the glory of victory! Genius move from AW or Sanogoal!
Fantastic performance as a team. More to come.
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alabamagooner @ 11:59 pm – Your boy was outstanding. He played the box-to-box role with intelligence and energy (we all know he has a hell of an engine). I loved his passing in particular; brisk, assertive; direct, hardly ever lost the ball.(Did I tell you I hate a midfielder who is sloppy with his passing and loses the ball?) He never neglected his defensive duties and, when in the attacking third, rarely if ever attempted a wild, speculative shot . (Did I tell you I also hate wild, long distance, speculative shots that simply turn the ball over to the opposition). One game may not be sufficient but we can hope the real Aaron is back.
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Ah, Shotta, the ‘real’ Aaron never went away. The heart, the fight…always there. His form has eluded him, yes, but what’s that saying again about form and class? (banned smiley)
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Ive have been told by an ARSENAL youth scout that the dutch lads are changing the style slightly within the youth sides. the pressing is now higher up the pitch and the ball is to be passed from back to front alot quicker. Of course there is a press report which says Arsene had no say in this and getting the ball up quicker is obviously refered to as long ball. As usual amazing media perversion however interesting none the less
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Actually, I thought Ramsey was still not as sharp as I expect he will be. Physically he was strong and customarily relentless with– as noted in Shotta’s comments–a positional maturity that allowed him to do great defensive work while contributing to the attack, but he did give the ball away trying the sort of moves that came off more often for him last year and several times was less decisive with the ball and so to keep possession ended up having to dribble back and try to find a safe pass, whereas Santi, Arteta, and the Ox seemed more frequently to know what they wanted to do before or as they received the ball in midfield. I think it is just a matter of match sharpness following his return finally to full physical fitness. He by no means had a bad game–no one on the team did in this superb collective performance. In fact, I agree that he had a very good game that shows he is getting closer to his top form. I just wouldn’t single out his performance especially. But tbh, I wouldn’t really focus on particular individuals as it was, very very hearteningly, a return to a free flowing, quick passing attack and energetic, intelligent display of group defending. A real team performance.
But if I had to mark out moments or qualities that particularly delighted me from the vantage I had–and it was a super seat in the lower tier just behind Klopp and the away bench (red wine anyone?!)–it would be Santi’s busy cleverness (one time in the corner he looked surrounded, penned in but a couple of step overs and feints to bamboozle the immediate defender and he zoomed around along the by line to put in a terrific pass into the box–astonishing skill and imagination); Chambers’ control and ability in traffic with a defender hanging on him to chest the ball to the right space to control and immediately pass–the interplay was superb with the Ox; the Ox’s all around quality (strength, skill, pace) combined with a real determination to drive forward (the highlight of course was the cross field diagonal ball from Alexis that he took down effortlessly and smacked a beautiful volley so unexpectedly over the defender and keeper to hit the corner of the crossbar/post, but in the first half he was so impressive with nifty moments, quick thinking and great determination and energy). Of course we could go on and praise Alexis who was as ever, Sanogo a complete handful with very fine link up play as an outlet up top in addition to his hugely important and remarkably developed goal etc… It just illustrates that the real delight was in the collective interplay and a great confidence boosting group performance. These other mentions were just little bursts of sparkle that made me ooh and aah over our attack. And I’ve ignored the particular moments on the defensive side that one could gush over. Plenty there too.
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Like eduardo, I’m looking forward to getting Debuchy and Kos back so we can get Chambers trained in that DM role. He’ll be a monster.
Otherwise, just what we needed. Super performance all round. Injury list growing again so it’s good that Ollie is back and we have such strength on the bench.
I said right after the match that the reserves could play in Istanbul but that was before I’d seen the table and realised that winning the group is still on. If Anderlecht can put one over a Dortmund team lacking in confidence all round and we can win against Gala – or if Anderlecht can get a draw, we only have to win 6-0. Let’s go for it!
Problem is we have Stoke away right before the Turkey trot so who knows how many players we’ll have fit?
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Limestone – you forgot Per’s amazing first time ball out of defence to Santi who then set up Alexis for the second, decisive goal. Easy as 1-2-3.
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But otherwise LSG, I’d agree with the assessment of Aaron. Definitely getting back to peak fitness but still a few rusty elements.
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Dk, I didn’t work my way back to the defenders as I had gone on for a bit already, but yes, that was another sparkling moment. His diagonal run to get back and take the ball all the way practically to the left corner was heroic. There were so many good tackles, fine anticipating interceptions, skillful and assured passing from the back line –really was quite encouraging and I am sure the team feels a major morale and confidence boost from this. I thought Dortmund were very good, but as Anicoll said missing something up top.
And I fully agree with you and Eduardo that Chambers has some serious potential as CB/DM. Debuchy and Kos returning will allow more time for him to work on preparing for a more central position on the spine. I do think however that we could use someone in January of the ilk we were rumoured to be pursuing in recent past windows with Jack and Arteta’s recurring injuries. I am concerned about the organization of our midfield with Flamini rather than Arteta.
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I thought both our full backs were excellent last night. Going forward they were quick and skilful. and willing to go to the bye line to cut the ball back in. When BvD pressed they were intelligent and concentrated well on their jobs. Top efforts boys.
Martinez made two stops last night that were not much discussed but had a huge impact on the game, especially the one just before half time. For a third choice keeper the boy done good, very good.
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It’s easy to recognize a good performance in a wonderful victory over a quality side, but the reality is that this marks two very good performances in one week. Which is to me the most encouraging development ahead of a run of important league fixtures against three sides ahead of us in the league standings right now plus Liverpool away and a battling QPR. Now would be a wonderful time to build a run of form and results and then be reinforced by injury returnees and perhaps even a new player or two in January. The potential is there for progress in the CL, a more than decent league campaign and defense of our cup. Hope it comes together and this month could be the platform for it to happen if the team can play like this consistently. An away win at WBA and we’ll be ready for a stingy Southampton.
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I endorse that comment, Anicoll. That was a dangerous moment of threat from Mkhitaryan I was alluding to earlier. That would have been a momentum swinging and damaging goal to concede. I think we would still have own, but it would have been nervier. For a third choice GK to come into a big CL match and keep a clean sheet was very impressive–courageous. He kept his head in those one or two big moments.
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The other very good outcome from last night, meaning results for us and Anderlecht, is that rather than have a battle in Istanbul we should be able to ease up, rest players and take save our energy for the bust Christmas period. In theory I suppose we could still win the group but I suspect that is a one in a hundred chance. Anderlecht have their Europa place and will similarly take their trip to Dortmund as a holiday.
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I was very impressed with all of them, but particularly Ramsey who seemed to be covering vast areas of the pitch most energetically. What I do find interesting is that (as far as my limited memory serves me) he seems to play much better when Jack Wilshere is not playing, and I wonder if they both metaphorically and literally get in each other’s way.
Poor old Arteta: I noted earlier this season that he had suffered a tired and defeated sort of injury and he certainly looked that way after playing superbly for so much of the match. I had always cast envious glances at Cabaye to come in and take over for two or three years from Arteta, but I see that he too is suffering from a calf-injury, so perhaps he is not the answer after all.
The keeper was great (we don’t need to think of him as third-choice any more – he kept us in it at Anderleccht and again made crucial saves last night ) and Monreal quite superb. He looks every inch a proper Arsenal player to me, and it is only the inflexible who won’t have him at any price.
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Today’s post is up.
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First visit to this site (I’m a Goonerholic) regular. Great to see you all sounding so positive. In these days of constant moaning from the Boo and Bleat Brigade (BBB), your comments are refreshing and encouraging. Keep it up!
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