MONEY MONEY MONEY

I really have to stop getting into arguments with people on the internet. You tend to forget that, in general, you are arguing with people who are too lazy to Google, have no interest in the truth, and they are only arguing with you because you're an Arsenal fan.

What was I arguing about?

That Arteta saying that we don't live in the same world as some of our rivals.

We don't have £1.2b to spend over two summers like Chelsea.

A ruthlessly competitive nation-state doesn't back us.

We don't have the financial capacity to be like Liverpool (now).

Why? Because we haven't had enough consistent success. Well played to City and Liverpool. Liverpool have been competing for the league for 10 years. Remember the famous Gerrard slip? That was Brendan Rodgers. Manchester City have been spending boatloads of money since Robinho. They won the league under Mancini and Pellegrini. Klopp and Guardiola picked up teams that had at least had the bones of a competitive team. Being in the Champions League consistently allows you to grow your revenue, it allows you to spend more, it allows you to buy better players, and consistently secure the ones you already have.

Latest wages from '23 accounts:

City wages: £420m (+£185m)

Liverpool wages: £373m (+£138m)

Arsenal wages: £235m

You can pick at those numbers, you can say that we've added salary this year, but however you cut it, Liverpool and City have been at the top of the table for wages for a long time and wages correlate closely with success.

People keep talking about Arsenal's transfer spend over the past 5 years, which is net -£478m. A big number, no doubt. But contextualize that against what Liverpool and City spend over and above Arsenal over a 3-year period at 2023 numbers.

City spend: £555m

Liverpool spend: £414m

Both teams have the capacity to drop half a billion more on their squad than Arsenal.

Now, Stefan, the financial expert who is a City fan, has pointed out that Arsenal can spend more money. Sure, that is the case. Anyone with an ownership group worth north of £10b could choose to spend more money. We could max out our PSR, add £100m to our wage bill, take reckless risks and...

...end up like Newcastle if we drop out of the Champions League because we invested too hard without a solid foundation or the knowledge we can be a Champions League regular. What are the consequences of that? Dry Januarys that leak into the summer. The reality of having to sell your very best players. A long-term plan in tatters because they overextended on a gamble... and lost.

I could liquidate my house and put it all on crypto. You could quit your high-paying job and start a dog bakery. Everyone has a choice. But in the business of football, the teams that tend to do the best make choices with the long-term in mind. The world is littered with owners who went big and ended up replacing Sean Dyche with David Moyes. My friends are still trying to claw their way out of financial hell because the Dog Bakery did NOT make it. Not enough gluten free options. Who could have forseen?

City and Liverpool have monster wage bills because they have been layering excellence over very long periods of time. Their wage bills are not dangerous because they have been responsible about spending, they're good at selling, and they always have a competitive team. Pep G took a long time to get a striker. Liverpool didn't give Klopp £150m for two players until the end of his build. Both teams are comfortable with their wage bills because they have built revenue off the back of their success, which means their current salary expenditure means Liverpool can afford 6.9 more £400k-a-week players and City can afford 8.9 £400k-a-week players.

That's just not how Arsenal are going to do things.

We are in a position that puts us on the cusp of greatness. We have a young squad that would be neck and neck with Liverpool if it weren't for that pesky PGMOL org. Our best players are all under 26. Peak is 26 to 32 years old. If we add a bang-bang striker, a winger, and someone like Zubimendi, we are ready to dominate for 5 years. If we do that, our wage bill will be at the levels we see from Liverpool and City.

Right now, we're not there. Arsenal aren't going to spend money for the sake of it to appease fans who will turn on those exact 'just do it' signings if they don't work out. Fans aren't rational because they don't need to be. Football is a release. They want the best players. They're furious Arteta seems to hate signing attackers. Seeing Liverpool have a dead-cat bounce makes them sick because this season was supposed to be our season.

But that is all emotion. Business can't work that way. Blow your finite pennies in January and get it wrong, you blow your summer, and your chance to take this project to the promised land.

OK, just wanted to get that out of the system. Just as an aside, it was truly eye-opening to argue with Liverpool fans who relentlessly called me a liar for putting up numbers they'd never seen not even pivot or apologise when shown that the numbers were from the Liverpool accounts. What are we doing here? Is society finished? Do we just fight for our side, not for what is right? Maybe. But I don’t care, because I won. x