Show Me the Money

Moneyball

I hear a lot of talk that is ridiculing Arsenal's refusal to budge when it comes to player wages. Samir Nasri is of course the subject of this speculation. He tells us through his Twitter feed not to believe the papers, but we all know the truth don't we? He wants some extra cash and based on his performance in one... err.. sorry half a season, he thinks he has somehow earned it. He's an excellent player no doubt, but now the situation is quite dicey. I still think he'll stay but his image has been tarnished. Even if he stays he'll find it extremely difficult or impossible to get into the good books of Gooners again. Anyway if he can perform, thats all we would really care about.

A lot of fans (especially opposing fans) are saying "Oh, just give him the little extra cash and get him to stay". But this view does not consider the larger context in which it must be seen. The amount of money Nasri seems to be demanding is in no way unaffordable for Arsenal Football Club. But again, there's more that needs consideration and its by no means rocket science. Lets look at this in a slightly broader perspective, shall we?

First of all, we are not owned by some Russian mafia with a bottomless pit of money or a Sheikh who - like Arseblog puts it - can offer every player a spaceship (or 2... or 3) in addition to his wages. Arsenal have a rigid pay structure and their financial stability is unmatched by any other club. If you disagree with this point you'll probably disagree with everything I say from here on, so you should try and find some other tosh to read. Even with their self sustaining model, Arsenal's expenditure on player wages increased by £4.5 million between the 08-09 and 09-10 season (This is not a random number. I've lifted it from Arsenal's financial results). Now couple this with the fact that Arsenal make over 40% (figure from Deloitte's Money League) of their annual revenue through matchday sales which clearly indicates that a good portion of any increase in operating costs will have to be transferred over to the fans.


So if Arsenal were to say "Chuck it! Have your extra money Mr. Nasri, we need you at any cost", what is the guarantee that more players will not be encouraged to make similar demands. If that happens what are the long term consequences? Who does it affect? The fans of course. I personally cannot claim to be a very faithful fan (in terms of attendance to games) as I have attended just one home game. Even then, as I was a student at the time, I felt the pinch after coughing up (there was blood if I remember correctly) almost £70 for the game against Man Utd which we proceeded to lose quite handsomely. I watched Ivan Gazidis' recent interaction with a few hundred Arsenal fans and I was absolutely in awe when I heard this fan who was from Cornwall (300 miles from London), said he travelled to every single home game. A comment (this one maybe a slight exaggeration) from another fan went something like this - "I chose to get be an Arsenal season ticket holder rather than having another child. Now it looks like bringing up a kid might have cost me less". This year ticket prices have gone up 6.5% and fans like him are seriously considering not renewing their season tickets. So I think we need to be more measured when we ask the club to throw out some extra cash as any over the top spending will result in the fans suffering. If the fans stop turning up, there goes the revenue. Simple eh?

I do want Arsenal to win trophies and have great players but not at the cost of it leading to financial suicide. It is true Arsenal have not spent much in last few seasons but I think the people in charge have long term stability in mind as well. So when Arsenal's rigidity in the wage structure is criticized, lets take a step back to think of the bigger issues. If Nasri wants to sign the contract before the July 1 deadline, well and good. If not, well then goodbye Sir. Thank you, but you're not bigger than Arsenal FC. We'll find someone else. 

Thoughts are welcome, though I'd appreciate if random stuff like "Oh you don't have a trophy to show for all this" is not thrown around here. If you want that, I'll make arrangements another day (I won't be there of course as I'll have to track back 6 years to the last trophy which will be quite painful). Cheers.