How Arsenal transformed into FFP powerhouse to hijack Tottenham Eberechi Eze deal

When Eberechi Eze moves to Arsenal from Crystal Palace, he will become their seventh signing of the summer and their third to cost more than £50million.

Viktor Gyokeres and Martin Zubimendi have both arrived for big money this summer and the Gunners have enhanced Mikel Arteta's team. With Eze's arrival, the north Londoners have significantly improved over the summer.

Their summer spending comes after the mass investment from Premier League title rivals Liverpool and Manchester City. It also follows weeks of frustration building around other clubs - such as Newcastle and Aston Villa - over their limited flexibility in the transfer window.

But how can Arsenal afford this mass spending? Reach PLC's Chief Football Business Writer Dave Powell explains how the club have managed to go from low-balling in the market to being one of football's powerhouses in the market.

“Arsenal’s success in terms of securing regular Champions League football in more recent years has been transformative to the club’s finances," he explained. “While Mikel Arteta will ultimately be judged on the silverware he brings to the football club, he has achieved significant success since his arrival at the helm in 2019 in returning the Gunners to the top table of European football season after season.

"That access to huge sums of money in prize money and broadcasting has supercharged revenues and put Arsenal in the position now in the market where they can be opportunistic.

“That has been evidenced in the club’s ability to hijack the move from North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, with Eze sealing a £67.5m switch.

“Spurs moved late in the window, despite themselves having the ability to make significant moves in the market this summer. They have the benefit of Champions League football this coming season after winning last season’s Europa League but far less surety around whether or not they will be part of it in 12 months, with the Thomas Frank era likely to need some time to bed in.

“But Arsenal have moved beyond building on a piecemeal basis. They have moved their business structure accordingly, with wages rising from £212m in 2021/22 against £369m in revenue, to £328m for 2023/24 against £613m in revenue.

"That is a wage to revenue ratio of 53%, a very safe margin. That wage bill will be shown to have risen when the 2024/25 accounts are published, but with new commercial deals, continued strong performances in the Premier League and Champions League, and £78m worth of profit on the sales of players in the 2024/25 financial year, they will have another healthy performance.

"Now in the 2025/26 financial year, the three-year cycle when it comes to PSR has seen £52m of losses from 2022/23 drop off the assessment, instead an £18m loss for 2023/24, a likely strong performance for 2024/25, and another for 2025/26 to give them no concerns over compliance.

“That, as well as access to healthy lines of credit and room to increase the wage bill, means that they have the ability to step in and make the kind of moves that have been seen with Eze, and that is a real step change when it comes to moving from the periphery of being challengers to being bonafide challengers who have the minimum expectation of a top-four finish each season.

“Arsenal have essentially wrestled the luxury of being able to act so freely in the market from Manchester United, whose ability to do that in the market has been significantly impacted by poor recruitment decisions, a lack of strategy and continued lack of competitive success and Champions League qualification.

“Arsenal are now one of three, with Manchester City and Liverpool, who can be opportunistic in the market, and that changes the dynamic of what the next 10 years will look like at the football club as others seek complete rebuilds to try and get back to competitive success.”

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