It is no longer news that Arsenal had to go through some years of austerity after it moved
from the iconic Highbury to the Emirates in 2006, although the hierarchy of the club were
sometimes in denial of these obvious facts, it was however clear from the struggles and
inability to compete in the transfer market that indeed the club was being hampered by the move in it early years, something that was made obvious by the sale of the club’s prized assets almost every summer after arriving at the Emirates.
The debt incurred for the Stadium move meant Arsene Wenger choose to adopt a youth policy that just kept the club in the fringes of competing with its rivals. However, the shackles of almost a decade of austerity has been lifted with the club now able to reap the fruits of the Emirates move, with renewed commercial deals, and ability to be competitive in the transfer market.
The new found competitive direction of the club was confirmed by the Alisher Usmanov, the second majority of the club who holds a 30% stake, speaking to the Daily Telegraph, the Uzbek who had over the years criticized the parsimony of the club in the transfer market said:
“I think that Arsenal’s planning was based on acquiring the new stadium, a decision taken by the previous owners,”
“The acquisition was financed with debt, which would be repaid through match-day revenues among other sources.
“There is another way of doing it: when shareholders buy all of the assets and contribute them to the club. As a result, these debt-free assets may generate income for the club.
“It is always up to the shareholders to choose which model to adopt.
“The board and main shareholders chose the debt option at the time, which led to Arsenal going almost 10 years without winning a domestic title or the Champions League.
“The first trophy only arrived in the 10th year.
“As a result of this choice, they were selling players and were unable to buy top players.
“These difficulties have now been overcome and the team is in a good state; the club’s finances are in order and I believe that Arsene Wenger and the club’s CEO (Ivan Gazidis) will manage them correctly.”
The new found wealth has certainly change things around the club as it bought Mesut Ozil for a record £42.5 million, a major turning point in how the club spends from it history. The influence of that signing brought the FA Cup last season after a nine year trophy drought. With the club now able to compete for the best players in the world, it means they can compete for trophies. The signings of Alexis Sanchez, Mathieu Debuchy, David Ospina and Calum Chambers for a combined outlay of £60 million means key areas of the squad have been strengthened and with more signings still to come as stated by Arsene Wenger, it means the club can go into the coming seasons with renewed assault on the trophy front.
The Uzbek concluded this line of the club’s new found competitive edge succinctly by saying;
“I think we begin a new era for Arsenal where we win trophies. That is most important for football.
“In my opinion, in line with the existing rules, the club has the correct decision-making process in place, including their selection policy, especially now, when they have the means to buy the best players.”
