Financial Difficulties At Arsenal, Wenger Turns Down Intertoto
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Arsenal may have money to buy players this summer eventhough the funds used for building the new 60,000 seater Emirates Stadium in Ashburton Grove is 200+ million. Arsenal created the new stadium in hopes of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League on a regular basis with qualification bringing in between 10-30 million pounds each season.
Figures for the six months to Nov 30, 2005, show the club have £53 million available - £24 million in advance ticket sales for the new stadium, plus an undisclosed amount from sale deposits for flats. The gross debt, however, is £260 million, after Arsenal spent £54 million on the stadium in the last six months alone. The club are converting this debt into an insurance bond, which will take longer to repay and be cheaper to service.
Arsenal's board are eager to move to the new stadium and earn more money from football. Much of the club's recent profit - £13.5 million -has been from the sale of players, mainly Patrick Vieira.
Without this, their profit before tax is £2.4 million, and of this only £200,000 is from football. The remainder is from property development Arsenal have carried out since they started work on the Emirates Stadium.
-telegraph
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger last night revealed that he turned down the chance to enter the Intertoto Cup if struggling Arsenal fail to qualify for Europe.
Arsenal have had a somewhat weird season, currently lying fifth in the premiership, 4 points behind North London rivals Sp*rs. On the European stage however, Arsenal have yet to put a foot wrong, cruising through the group stages with 5 wins and a draw. They have also already got one foot in the quarter-finals after beating Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu earlier this week.
"I have nine players at the World Cup and I don't see how I can enter the Intertoto cup and give some holiday to the players.
"It is better to start fresh and try to get up there again than starting the season with nobody available at all. Anyway, for me, Europe is the Champions League.
"As for the rest, if you qualify directly for the Uefa Cup you will not turn it down. But at the moment our target is to qualify for the Champions League. I cannot say to the players OK lets qualify for the Uefa Cup.
"We are only five points behind Tottenham with a game in hand and we play Tottenham at home. We have a good chance to still be in there."
posted by highbury1913 @ 11:04 pm | |
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