Arsenal set for record gate receipts, says Edelman

ARSENAL’S new stadium will generate more cash than any other in world football, managing director Keith Edelman has claimed.

The Gunners will say goodbye to Highbury at the end of the current campaign to begin a new era in nearby Islington.

The Emirates Stadium will hold 60,000 and Edelman is confident it will sell out for every fixture, with unsold season tickets already numbered in their hundreds rather than thousands.

And given that fans will be charged London prices that will mean that Arsenal’s match-day revenue will out-strip that of Manchester United despite the fact that Old Trafford has a capacity of more than 68,000.

Other grounds across the globe may hold even more but measured in purely financial terms the Gunners would rake in more than any rival club, he insisted.

He said: “We will earn significantly more in revenue. Our gate income will probably be the highest in the world. We will have 60,000 fans and higher-priced tickets - and more premium tickets than any other club in the UK.”

Of course, Roman Abramovich’s millions will ensure Chelsea will still wield a significant advantage in the transfer market, despite their capacity of little over 40,000.

In contrast, the Arsenal board must repay the loans taken out to fund the new stadium but Edelman was adamant those would not hamper manager Arsene Wenger in his bid to revitalise a squad that no longer reigns supreme in the Premiership.

He said: “We have kept the finances of the stadium and the team separate. We have ample funds for transfer activities and to fund the new stadium.

“We will be much better off financially than we were at Highbury once we move to the new stadium. Immediately when we move, we will be earning more than we would at Highbury - with all the debt.”

Highbury will be sold off to reduce that debt, almost certainly for housing, and although it is likely to remain empty for at least a couple of years, its current contents, minus a few precious items such as the bust of former manager Herbert Chapman which is bound for the new ground, will be sold off in the summer.