Player sales send Gunners’ profits soaring

Arsenal’s decision to sell Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri helped them report a huge pre-tax profit of £49.5 million (€58.4 million) for the six months to the end of November.

The Gunners, who lost £6.1m (€7.2m) over the same period in 2010, might have made only a small profit but for the controversial departures of Fabregas and Nasri last summer, for a reported £54m (€63.8m).

Arsenal enjoyed an overall profit on player trading of £46.1m (€54.4m), having made a loss of £5.9m (€6.9m) the previous year. They made £63m (€74.4m) overall in player sales, while there was an investment of £74.7m (€88.2m) in new arrivals and contract extensions, the cost of both being spread evenly over the length of an individual’s deal.