Playing in Europa League won’t affect investment, says Arsenal managing director
Arsenal can still make the investments required to compete even if they spend more time in the Europa League, according to managing director Vinai Venkatesham.
The Gunners have missed out on Champions League football in the past two seasons, with new head coach Unai Emery tasked with returning the club to Europe’s elite club competition.
While supporters may worry that the financial impact of missing out for a third season running could lead to Arsenal being cut adrift from the top clubs at home and on the continent, Venkatesham believes the club’s model can sustain a longer period out of the Champions League before that becomes a concern.
„We do have a self-sustaining business model so the more years you spend out of the Champions League, the bigger strain it puts on the business model,“ he added.
„There’s not a final point we get to where it becomes a catastrophic problem and we are nowhere near that.
„We run the business in a responsible way – we know there are at least six teams who have a minimum requirement of being in the Champions League.
„So we have that robustness built into our business model that we can have some seasons in the Europa League and still make the investments we need.“
The challenge of returning to Europe’s top club competition requires Arsenal usurping the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham – who currently occupy the top four positions in the Premier League.
While competing in the Champions League is where supporters want to be, it also makes it easier to attract new signings and results in more money coming into the club coffers.
Venkatesham stepped up to become Arsenal’s managing director following Ivan Gazidis’ decision to leave his role of chief executive and move to a similar position at AC Milan.
He admits being in the Europa League is costing the club tens of millions of pounds in terms of revenue but that there is no urgent need to recoup those lost funds.
„It is not going to be easy but I absolutely, 100 per cent believe Arsenal Football Club can get back to where it needs to get,“ said Venkatesham.
„The first step we need to do is get back into the Champions League and then we need to start competing and then we need to start winning the biggest trophies in the game.
„We need to be realistic, last season we finished sixth and we had our second season in a row in the Europa League – that is not where we want this football club to be.
„I think it has an impact across the club – it is a material impact, financially, being in the Europa League and not the Champions League.
„It is hard to put a number on it because it depends how well you do in the Europa League and how well you do in the Champions League and it depends on how many English clubs are in both.
„But it is tens of millions of pounds, it is a material impact being in the Europa League – so that is the financial bit of it.“
Arsenal reached the Europa League semi-final under Arsene Wenger last season and Emery has already guided them to progression from the group stage this time around.
Winning the tournament would mean a return to the Champions League, as would a first top-four finish in three years.
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