“It’s Arsenal’s money to play with.” Analyst says Arsenal has lots of money for transfers

Financial analyst and Football Insider columnist, Kieran Maguire says Arsenal has money to spend on players this summer.

The Gunners need to bolster their squad after missing out on the Premier League’s top seven this season.

It means they will not play European football in the next campaign as they continue to rebuild their squad under Mikel Arteta.

The Gunners have faced fan protests in this campaign with most of them demanding more investment in their playing squad from the club’s owners.

They look set to get their wish after the Gunners borrowed some money from Barclays Bank to cover for the Covid Corporate Financing Facility loan they got last year to cover for losses because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Maguire says there were restrictions on what they could use the CCFF for, but the new loan doesn’t have one and that means they have as much as £120million to spend on player recruitments.

He told Football Insider: “I’m not sure they could have renewed the old loan. There was no guarantees.

“There were also restrictions in terms of the CCFF from the Bank of England. But in terms of the Barclays loan, it’s Arsenal’s money to play with.

“The Barclays relationship gives Arsenal a greater degree of flexibility. That could be beneficial for the club because you don’t have to ringfence it in terms of day-to-day operational costs.

“The Kroenke family have got an awful lot of work to do to convince the Arsenal fans of their intentions. This new loan could be used for recruitment and retention issues.”

Tags Arsenal money Kieran Maguire

28 Comments

  1. Arsenal have not got 120 mil to spend on players. We would be outside FFP rules and our revenues are down on previous years putting an even bigger dent in our financial clout. We will only buy players if we sell and players like, Bellerin, Xhaka, Torriera, Willian, Runaarson and even Amn will be hard to move on because we are desperate to get players out and their stock isn’t the best. If we can recoup 50 or 60 mil, then we may spend 80 to 100 mil, leaving a net of around 40 mil but even that will be doubtful.

    1. And what people want to remember is, the 120 mil that they borrowed is to pay off a 120 mil debt, give or take a few million. Arsenal have never been in the red until this last two years, the money isnt for tranfers only.

      1. Reggie I read FFP is being scrapped
        UEFA is reportedly set to scrap their Financial Fair Play (FFP) system and replace it with new rules that will govern club finances.

        The new system will provide clubs with greater freedom over their spending power and have less control on how much clubs can invest in the transfer market before falling foul of the regulations.

          1. Arsenal are not going to be in Europe this season so they have nothing to fear with uefa.
            They can spend as much as they have on signings

    2. Every season is the same story

      Media trying to force clubs to spend big

      Nothing new with or without Covid

      Clubs must spend big to create news….

      Media will get the fans to put pressure on the club to spend big

  2. Reggie,

    You are spot on and that makes me so scared because without proper investments this summer, we are in trouble.

    1. Goonerboy, i dont hold quite the same view, we have players to get off the books and a few we hopefully could sell. If we can raise some funds, three solid, quality signings could see and make a massive difference. My doubts are with Arteta and the way he sends out the team to play. We dont seem to go out to win a game, we go out not to lose it and that for me is worrying because it isn’t working.

  3. If we can get an average of 12 million per player for the 10 players that we are hearing will be shifted that is 120 million
    It is not enough to get the required players that we need but the owners have to add to that and if they do we will be at last on track to being a top 6 club. If the don’t we are back to being what we are now shit. Only way out of our predictment is to get money in and to spend it wisely support Arteta and hope it works . COYG

    1. My question to you my friend is “ Do you trust Arteta to get the job done if he gets the necessary funds?”
      Me think as always Arteta is out of his depth and should not be managing Arsenal. Your last sentence has a word of hope; this is why Arteta is the wrong guy.

      1. I keep asking same question, Conte is the man for me, getting Conte will be a major transfer coup. Infact the best.

  4. The important thing is to use the available transfer budget to address the priority needs to upgrade the squad.
    More importantly the performances of the existing player assets have to be maximised by the manager, by building a system of play that best utilizes the resources available. Why for example does Arsenal fail to score goals from midfield, yet Joe Willock on loan to Newcastle United can score 8 goals in 8 games? This is more goals than all Arsenal midfielders have scored in 2 seasons. Can Arsenal’s system of play be adjusted and individual flair cultivated to generate more goals from midfield, while still maintaining defensive capability?
    Congratulations to Brentwood FC on promotion to the English Premier League after 74 years. The Bees have one of the smallest incomes in the Championship, yet through prudent player asset management they manage to be successful on the pitch and make a profit each year.

    1. Agree OG

      I think most would agree that it’s a vocational imperative for any aspiring coach/manager to devise a tactical plan that takes into account the individual strengths and weaknesses of their respective players, with the logical objective of getting the best out of the squad at their disposal…of course, some might suggest that this only applies once the manager in question has compiled a team of his choosing, whereas I would contend that even if you’re an unfinished product you would still employ a strategy that, at the very least, highlighted those most talented members and/or aspects of your roster; even if these systematic deviations might require some tactical flexibility more often than you might prefer…as ultimately, it would seem inconceivable for any coach to place the primary focus on some of his less talented members, who certainly aren’t going to be integral figures moving forward, simply due to philosophical inflexibility, abject fear and/or stubbornness

      so when you apply this criterion, when analyzing what has transpired over the past season under Arteta, the most first and most obvious question should be “who has improved since the implementation of his most commonly employed and seemingly preferred 4-2-3-1 tactics? keeping in mind, that early on he did deploy a 3-back system that seemed to be used with Luiz in mind, as he knowingly preferred this formational tactic, and maybe even for Tierney’s benefit, as it allowed him to sometimes play functionally as a winger, with considerably less defensive responsibilities…I would suggest that only Xhaka and Luiz fall into that category, which simply can’t be a winning formula for any team hoping to compete for things

      1. You are spot on the team’s assessment should be the first thing a manager does then devise plans tactics based on the players qualities weaknesses..as i wrote before i thought this was basic stuff.

    2. Great comment, Ozzie! Over the last 5 seasons, Brentford have the lowest net spend in the Championship. They have made a whopping +£94million profit from their transfer business. Now that is how you run a club!!
      Buzzing (no pun 😄) they won yesterday!

    3. And you forgot to add, our players mentality needs to change too, they need more fight.
      KT said he gets injured because he doesn’t know how to hold back. That got me thinking, does this means a lot of our players are holding back to avoid injury?

    4. One the reasons they’ve been successful is because like Southampton few years back they hire a manager that suits the club’s playing philosophy but he doesn’t have the final say on transfers he just tells the scouting recruitment department the type of player he needs and they get him so when the manager leaves and s nee one comes in there is no need for whole changes and they also work 2 transfer windows ahead!

  5. Spot on on every count ozziegunner.. it’s what all professional sports teams strive for,yet Arsenal have failed in window after windows to prioritise their signings. As you mentioned Brentford are the little club that could and have achieved so much. Wish I could get to watch a game at their ground again.

    1. 19 clubs in the Premier League have failed not only Arsenal

      Only City has succeed as they won the league….

      1. There is a lot of difference between failing by coming 2nd, 3rd or 4th in the league than finishing in 8th……..

  6. In my own understanding,if u watch our defending it improved at least we can hold match with redcard,only in our attacking former so if…..we can invest by attracting good players believe me we will turn things like Liverpool did

  7. If you were to ask West-Ham Leicester Leeds Brighton Newcastle even Chelsea(CL winners)..i doubt that they’d say that their season was a failure some have hit /reached their target others surpassed them even worse is the fact that despite MU reaching the EL final and finishing 2nd their manager considers this season a failure different expectations and mentality!

  8. Hate or love MA, all world class coaches started as rookies. MA has his preffered formatio, he knows the strength and wicknesses of the team he inherited hence the clear out if it succeeds. Then he can work on his 4-2-3-1 or 3-4-3; the time to plan for that is now. We will make money from players sale “”Good Money” and the board must back him. As bad as he is, some Man City players will always have him to thank for their improvement. Did anyone see our keeper trying to impress? It’s because he is listed to leave. We won’t have any distraction for now. It’s a blessing.

    1. let him be a rookie at another club. How many rookies managed Arsenal as their first job. C’mon now. raise your standards and stop giving him excuses.

  9. They paid back that loan in full. It was a loan. Nice financial analyst and journalism.

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