£188m sum shows Arsenal are ready to test Man City dominance after Mikel Arteta transfers

The publishing of Arsenal’s annual accounts showed plenty of numbers moving in the right direction.

The headline figure was the £52.1m loss, up from £45.5m the previous year, but across the board, there were strong indicators of a club on the up, with football revenue at £464.6m for the 2022/23 accounting period, compared to £369.1m for 2021/22, an increase of 25.8 per cent year on year.

That figure was, of course, aided by the club’s return to European football through the Europa League, with the UEFA broadcasting income a welcome boost, as well as the additional games that were held at the Emirates Stadium. The club’s commercial activity also increased by some £28m to reach £169.3m.

Among the costs to rise were wages, with the Gunners’ payroll up to £234.8m in 2023 from £212.3m in 2022. The addition of new, more expensive talent, as well as some bonuses paid to those to whom the club was contractually obliged through better performance in the Premier League, where the club finished second last season, meant that a rise was inevitable.

As Sir Jim Ratcliffe attempts to deliver a new Manchester United and return them to the summit of English football again after a hiatus of more than a decade, he is attempting to do it while reducing the outgoings at the club, particularly wages.

Manchester United have been the great overpayers in relation to on-pitch success in recent years, with the club’s wage bill for 2022/23 sitting at £331.4m, and that was down £50m on the previous year as the players felt the price of failure on the pitch in failing to reach the Champions League during the 2021/22 season.

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