Arsenal are poised to overtake Real Madrid as the world's richest club
Last updated at 22:00pm on 22nd December 2007
The exquisite combination of Cesc Fabregas, Emmanuel Adebayor and Nicklas Bendtner helped Arsenal maintain their lead at the top of the Premier League yesterday.
But the young players of Arsenal may yet find they have an even bigger prize on their minds come the new year.
Victory over Tottenham at the Emirates Stadium is now almost routine — Arsenal are unbeaten in 20 matches against Spurs — but in 2008 they will rapidly outgrow such parochial spats.
Not many fans would have thought it possible a few months ago, when Thierry Henry walked out for Barcelona and billionaires from Russia and the United States were stalking the club poised for a hostile takeover. But now Arsenal are on course to overtake Real Madrid as the richest club in the world.
'We're very close,' said managing director Keith Edelman,reflecting on what has been a tumultuous year for Arsenal. Financial results last autumn revealed that the club's turnover in the first year at the Emirates Stadium had shot up to £200million, just behind Real Madrid, whose turnover of £202m made them the biggest club in the world, according to Deloitte's football rich list.
But the reality is that Arsenal may even have pulled ahead of Real. 'We don't take catering revenues as part of our income,' said Edelman. 'That would add another £10m-£15m to our figures.'
When Arsenal's results next year include the first fruits of the Premier League's £2.7billion television deal, and Real Madrid begin to feel the effect of losing the extraordinary marketing power of David Beckham, Arsenal may well have pulled clear of the Spanish giants.
Edelman added: 'We always felt that when we finished building the Emirates Stadium we'd be in a much better place. We had two tough years,we didn't have that extra revenue we're now getting from the stadium. But we're there now. Our fan base is growing in the Far East and America and we're working hard in Vietnam and Thailand.
'If you look back five years,we had a million users on the internet. There has obviously been a growth in the use of the internet since then, but now we're looking at 2.8million unique users. We're looking at season-ticket waiting lists of 45,000, executive box waiting lists . . . we're oversubscribed in every area.'
Even when Manchester United release what will undoubtedly be impressive financial results next month, the economic model at Arsenal means the future appears more secure in north London than it does at Old Trafford, Anfield or down the road at Stamford Bridge.
'United will bring their results out soon and they may be a little bit bigger than us,very similar to us,' said Edelman.
'But one of the things distinguishes us from the other clubs that have been sold in the last two years is that the debt we have is there to fund an asset. A lot of the other clubs have debt that is being funded for the acquisition of the club.'
The board, who control 46 per cent of the club, have resolved not to cash in their shares until 2012, unlike the owners of Manchester United,Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City or West Ham. Yet, with hugely influential former vice-chairman David Dein,who did own 14 per cent of the club, agitating for a sale last April, it seemed like a close run thing.
First US sports tycoon Stan Kroenke, who now owns 12.2 per cent of the club, loomed large. Then Alisher Usmanov, the Uzbeki-born Russian who bought Dein's stake and now owns 23 per cent, seemed poised to oust the board. Neither succeeded, though Kroenke is being courted as a potential partner.
'We expected 2007 to be a comfortable year when we could put all our effort into building the club,' said Edelman. 'I think we were distracted from the corporate side for a few months but I think we've put that way behind us.
The lockdown agreement regarding the shares owned by the board until 2012 means we're very, very relaxed. 'I think this period has helped everyone involved with Arsenal to think about their club. We love our values, we love our traditions and we love the way we run the club.
'We think we run the club in a very traditional way, which is true to Arsenal's values and which is very important. In addition, we have so many good young players and we're playing such exciting football. I think those three things hang together to make the board pretty happy.'
Last week has told part of the Arsenal story in microcosm. Arsenal's reserves, with an average age of 20, took on one of the best of the rest of the Premier League in Blackburn Rovers and emerged with a 3-2 win,despite having Denilson sent off.
Then on Friday they were drawn against European and world champions AC Milan in the Champions League in what will provide one of the club's sternest tests.
'It's very exciting,' said Edelman. 'AC Milan are the great world champions, reigning European champions and they have a very experienced squad who have been there and got the T-shirt.And we've got a very young squad. So it will be a test of experience against youth.'
Yet manager Arsene Wenger and the triumvirate at the helm of Arsenal — chairman Peter Hill-Wood, principal shareholder Danny Fiszman and Edelman — would be quick to admit that Arsenal's European pedigree does not yet compare to the likes of Milan,Real Madrid or even Manchester United.
A Fairs Cup win in 1970 and a European Cup Winners' Cup victory in 1994 look a little threadbare compared with the nine European Cups of Madrid and the seven of AC Milan.
'We would love to win the Champions League,' said Edelman. 'It's one we haven't won but, of course, it's tough. 'If you go back over 10 years,we have been developing every year and getting better. Financially we're very, very strong now and we have a very, very strong base. So I'm hopeful that this is the start of a long, successful period.'
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