I have to power-write this very early in the morning, so I might have to come back to some of this when I’ve had more time to digest it later. But the Deloitte Money League data has dropped, and my oh my, is it interesting this season.
Arsenal are doing really well. So well, we’re now the 7th highest generator of cash money in Europe. We’re actually ahead of United, who slide to 8th, dropping a whopping 4 places. Can’t believe it’s taken so long for them to fall, but finally, consequences are landing.
And this: Just 42m euros splits the top 4 Premier League teams. Notably, the European whingers of Barca and Real Madrid, who can’t survive without a Super League, are topping the charts with a combined revenue of 2 billion Euros. Quite staggering. Bayern and Paris make up the other two spots ahead of the Premier League clubs.
In short? Money is still flowing into world football. The game isn’t in trouble at the upper echelons, totaling an 11% increase on 2025. The Premier League is monstrously dominant because it shares the pie, with 9 clubs in the top 20. It’s quite staggering that West Ham United, a club that has positioned itself as a tourist destination with a free stadium in Stratford, manages to creep in without Europe or any notable success.
Ok, now let’s look at wages.
And this: Chelsea, the team that allegedly doesn’t spend money on wages, now tops Arsenal in the Premier League. Arsenal dropped to 4th. From my quick research, our salary numbers moved up £10m a season, so nothing nuts.
But what I really want you to pay attention to is ‘plucky Liverpool’ who moved to become the highest spenders in the league. They spend £83m more a year than us. What does that mean for squad building? It means they can afford to have 6.38 extra players in their 23-man squad earning £250k a week.
£250k a week is more than Declan. That’s more than Big Gabi, David Raya, Ben White, Jurrien Timber, Trossard, Martinelli, Zubimendi, or Calafiori.
That is a LOT of extra money. Man City can afford 4.23 more players on the same salary, and that’s before we consider all the extras that go on with these deals.
Again, these are all extremely strong mitigating circumstances as to why it’s been so hard for Arsenal. This sort of gap between Arsenal and the top clubs has been prominent for YEARS. The TV pundits and simple folk will constantly look at the transfer fees and say, “Look, Arsenal spend loads.” But they rarely focus on the secret fuel that keeps clubs at the top. MASSIVE wages.
Liverpool’s salary gap over Arsenal over 5 years is £415m. City’s is £265m. Add that to their huge outlays and you can see why Arsenal have been in such a rush to bring in new deals. We need to find an academy lead who can start selling kids at higher premiums. It’s obvious why there’s no choice on stadium development to catch up and make that London premium for tickets count harder against our northern rivals.
So what does all this mean, and how can we draw this back to ourselves? Internet table bangers since 2007. Yeah, I’m talking about you. The sort of high-minded individual who reads sicko blogs daily on your work breaks and joins the chorus of other individuals who demanded more of Arsenal. At the end of 2020, our revenue was £380m. Now that’s basically what our wage bill is. To all those who said we couldn’t compete, you were wrong. We’re not at the top of any of the tables with regards to wages or revenue, but we’re top of the Champions League and Premier League, and we’re probably the best team in the world.
When people ask why Arteta gets £16m a year, that’s your answer. Under his management, we’ve added £300m to our revenue, we’re the hottest ticket in town, and we’re going to expand our stadium.
What is the lesson here for Premier League owners? If you’re not spending, you’re going backwards. You have to keep pushing forward, you can’t keep people in jobs because of status, and you simply have to be in the Champions League every damn year.
Arsenal are massive. Can they win big and stay there? That is the question.
Ok, now listen to this weeks Therapy Session, that is pure members, as a make up for the On The Whistle that had to go out to everyone.