Wenger’s transfer kitty to benefit from £9m increase in profits
The Gunners have invested heavily in their new Emirates Stadium, set to open for the start of next season and the financial results of the club’s parent company, which were released this morning, showed an expenditure in excess of £94m on the project during the year ending May 31, 2005. Over the same period, the group’s overall net debt increased to £153.3m, from £141.3m in 2004.
Despite the scale of the North London club’s long-term financial commitments, cash reserves remain healthy and are reported at £63.1m, up from £17.6m last year, while the figures also revealed pre-tax profit had risen from £10.6m to £19.3m.
Arsenal’s managing director Keith Edelman believes the latest report shows a successful finance strategy and maintained funds continue to be available to Wenger, should he choose to spend them.
“They are a very solid set of results,” Edelman said. “Some of the money in our reserves relates to future financial years, where we keep some cash to pay all of our costs in those years, but there are sufficient funds available to the manager for transfers.
“Arsene knows what his budgets are. He has always been a cautious buyer of players, a very astute buyer, and a very successful manager. He is not a frivolous manager who, if he has got £10m or £15m, will just say ‘I have got to buy a player’. Just because he has got a budget does not mean he will spend it if he does not believe it will strengthen the squad.
“Arsene always buys the right type of player at the right time, and we leave those judgements to him, because he is very good at it.”
Edelman feels Arsenal supporters will not be unduly alarmed by the amount of long-term debt to which the club is committed, the majority of which has been accumulated in securing a move to their new, 60,000-seater home.
“It is quite a small increase really, on the basis we spent more than £95m of fixed-asset additions to the new stadium, and our net debt has only gone up a small amount,” Edelman said. “The debt relates, in the main, to the new Emirates Stadium, and I would hope our fans understand once that is up and running it will produce extra profits for the club to invest in our squad, both for salaries and for transfers.”
Meanwhile Sol Campbell took another step on the comeback trail last night as he looked to hand Arsene Wenger a fitness boost ahead of Arsenal’s Champions League campaign. The England centre-back has not featured for the Gunners since the 2-1 defeat by Birmingham on the final day of last season because of a calf problem. While the 30-year-old has been in full training for several weeks, his manager will not take any chances in recalling Campbell too soon.
