Arsenal announce £17.7million loss after jump in player wages

Arsenal have announced a loss of £17.7million ($22.3m) for the year ending May 31, 2024.

The north London side generated a club-record £616.6m for the 12-month period — compared to £466.7m a year earlier — with £52.4m coming from player trading.

Mikel Arteta’s side returned to the Champions League after a six-year hiatus and reached the quarterfinals, losing to Bayern Munich 3-2 on aggregate. Arsenal Women also played six games at Emirates Stadium — including setting a WSL attendance record of 60,160 for their game against Manchester United.

The accounting period also reveals a significant increase in wages from £234.8m to £327.8m. Arsenal’s transfer business during this year includes signing Declan Rice from West Ham for a fee of up to £105m, Kai Havertz from Chelsea for £67.5m and Jurriën Timber for an initial fee of £38m.

Significant sales including allowing Folarin Balogun to join Monaco for around £35m and Granit Xhaka joining Bayer Leverkusen for £21.4m but Arsenal suggested UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations and the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) have created a tougher market in which to raise funds.

A statement on the club’s website released alongside their latest figures on Wednesday read: “Player trading profits continue to have a significant impact on overall profitability and the club’s ability to realise profits during 2023/24 was again adversely impacted by market conditions with reduced overall liquidity as clubs’ acquisition budgets continued to be impacted by financial pressures.”

The Premier League have confirmed that all 20 clubs are fully compliant with PSR rules for last season.

Arsenal were criticised for deciding not to sign a striker last summer and in January — neither transfer window is covered in these latest accounts. Arsenal’s net spend last summer was around £13m as they brought in Riccardo Calafiori and Mikel Merino while signing David Raya permanently from Brentford and Raheem Sterling on loan from Chelsea.

Arsenal allowed Emile Smith Rowe to join Fulham and Eddie Nketiah to join Crystal Palace — two academy graduates whose sale money counts as pure profit in PSR terms. Goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale also joined Southampton after a three-year stint at the club.

Arteta’s side made a late move to sign Ollie Watkins from Aston Villa but had a £40m bid rejected and viewed the 29-year-old’s £60m valuation as too high.

The statement concluded: “Consecutive qualifications for the UEFA Champions League for 2024-25 for both men’s and women’s teams represent a positive continuation of the club’s progress and we look forward to an exciting end to the 2024-25 season.”