Arsenal recorded a profit of 37m, making the current stockpile of money around 190m. This has naturally dredged up the old arguments regarding whether Arsene Wenger has full access to the money he could use, and whether the board support him in his transfer dealings.

As ever, Ivan Gazidis was only too keen to speak in Arsene’s defence.

Forging their own path

Arsenal CEO Gazidis has today insisted that Arsenal are focused on ‘forging our own path to success”.

He said of Arsenal’s self-sustaining business model and future ambitions:

“Clubs, fans and other stakeholders in the game are demanding a more rational financial approach and this reinforces our conviction that our Club is strongly placed to succeed over the long term, We have qualified for the Champions League for the 15th season in a row whilst off the pitch we have a business strategy and infrastructure that is helping us to grow our revenues.”

“This revenue growth will provide sustainable funds for future investment in the team whilst keeping within the UEFA Financial Fair Play requirements. We can and will forge our own path to success.”

Strong words from the CEO, though words we’ve heard a fair few times before. Doesn’t mean they aren’t true, necessarily.

Indeed, Arsenal are expected to enjoy a revenue boost of 70-80m when their commercial deals are re-negotiated in 2014, so he’s not completely spouting nonsense.

Where does the money go?

On the subject of Wenger’s freedom to spend, Gazidis pointed out that Wenger only spends when he wants to, and stressed that funds aren’t withheld:

“I want to be clear that the money we generate is available to our manager, Arsène Wenger, and that he quite rightly makes the decisions regarding how to invest those funds based on his extensive football knowledge, experience and judgement.

“Over the years, his decisions and his management have propelled us to the top of the game in Europe (currently ranked 6th by UEFA) while playing some of the most attractive football in the world.”

You can’t really say he’s wrong. Arsene’s financial prudence is frustrating but it’s probably better to be successful with a full bank account rather than haemorrhaging money every year a la Manchester City.

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