Arsenal 2022/23 financial results expose clear Edu problem Stan Kroenke must address

Arsenal's accounts for the year ending May 31, 2023 have been published and perhaps expose a clear problem for the north London club.

Arsenal recorded an overall loss of £52.1million for the year, up from £45.5million in 2022. Despite that, the club remains in a healthy position financially, helped largely due to the success Mikel Arteta's side have had over the past two seasons.

A return to UEFA competition, coupled with a Premier League title charge, helped football revenue for the year rise to £464.6million, up from £369.1million the year before. Broadcasting revenues and commercial revenues also rose.

However, the amount of profit the club made from player sales and player loans decreased, highlighting a huge problem for the Gunners. The club made a profit of £12.2million from player sales and loan deals in the year ending May 31, 2023, while a year earlier this was at £24.2million.

Arsenal said in a statement: «The total profit on sale of player registrations was £10.7million (2022 — £22.2million) and player loans amounted to £1.5million (2022 — £2.0million). Player trading profits continue to have a significant impact on overall profitability and the club’s ability to realise profits during 2022/23 was again adversely impacted by market conditions with reduced overall liquidity as clubs’ acquisition budgets continued to be impacted by financial pressures post pandemic.»

Matteo Guendouzi, Lucas Torreira, Bernd Leno and Konstantinos Mavropanos were sold by the club in the summer of 2022, although sporting director Edu Gaspar failed to negotiate big transfer fees for any of the four players. Arsenal also struggled to find buyers for Nicolas Pepe, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Nuno Tavares, with all three players instead