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Arsenal move into loss

Arsenal have published their 2018/19 accounts. They moved from a £97 million profit to a £23m loss due to lower revenue and profits on player sales. However, the balance sheet looks strong. They have over £100m in the bank and profits of £453m made over the years.

The main reason for the fall in revenue is £30m less from matchday, this is less to do with attendances falling or lower ticket prices and more to do with how the bean counters recognise matchday income.

The wage bill down at Arsenal to £230m, lower than Manchester United (£332m) Manchester City (£316m) Liverpool (£263m) and Chelsea (£244m) but higher than Spurs (£148m).

The club spent £99m on transfers in 18/19 on Torreira, Leno, Sokratis and Guendozi. Player sales were £18m. Since the end of 18/19 Arsenal have had a net spend on players of £93m.

The Swiss Ramble blogger warns, 'Arsenal accounts released today are only for the football club. We will only see the full picture when club publishes consolidated accounts. This is important, as these include property, interest payments, etc. In short, loss will be even higher (£27m difference in 2017/18).

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