Arsenal can now afford to sign Wayne Rooney, says chief executive
Ivan Gazidis has declared that
Arsenal are ready to "compete with any club in the world" as they enter a new financial era that will give them the power to sign players such as Wayne Rooney.
The chief executive talked of the club's great ambition as he looked to the future and he made it clear that
he wanted Arsène Wenger to remain as manager in the long term.
Wenger's contract expires at the end of next season but Gazidis was hopeful that he would commit beyond that, raising the prospect of the Frenchman reaching 20 years at the club.
Gazidis's comments on the "escalation" of Arsenal's "financial firepower" and what it stood to mean during the transfer window
may excite the club's supporters the most.
He used Rooney, who is disillusioned at Manchester United, as a hypothetical example, although Wenger has stated that he would not turn down the opportunity to sign the England forward.
Arsenal have serious interest in the Real Madrid strikers Gonzalo Higuaín and Karim Benzema – one of whom is likely to be for sale this summer. Both are 25 and they comfortably fit the superstar profile.
Arsenal are not known for their willingness to spend £25m fees on £200,000-a-week players; their record signing is Andrey Arshavin at £15m, who will be released on 30 June at the end of his contract. But, when questioned about Rooney and the potential for deals at the very top end, Gazidis suggested that anything was now possible.
"
We could do that, we could do more than that," he said. "
We have a certain amount which we've held in reserve and we also have new revenue streams coming on board.
All of these things mean we can do some things which would excite you.
We can think about all kinds of things."
It is well documented how Arsenal have been constrained by the cost of their move to the Emirates Stadium in 2006 when they were compelled to lock themselves into long-term sponsorship deals that guaranteed money up front. Gazidis talked of having had "one hand tied behind our back".
But the major commercial contracts have come up for renewal. Gazidis has renegotiated a
five-year deal worth £150m with Emirates – the first tranche of which becomes available this summer – while the benefits of a
kit contract with Puma, worth roughly £30m a year, will be felt from next summer. There are, in addition, a number of secondary sponsorship arrangements.
Arsenal, according to the most recent accounts, had revenues of £234.9m but
it is confidently predicted that they will gross more than £300m by 2015, provided that they continue to participate in the Champions League. Bayern Munich, the European champions and the club that Gazidis cites as an example, turned over £298.1m in their latest accounts.
Arsenal's majority shareholder, Stan Kroenke, does not take dividends out of the club – all monies are reinvested – and so
it is possible to imagine Wenger standing to receive an extra £70m each year to spend on transfers.
The capacity to pay higher wages would also increase proportionately and,
when the incoming financial fair play regulations are considered, Arsenal believe that no other club have a better opportunity to make a substantial advance.
"
We should be able to compete at a level like a club such as Bayern Munich," Gazidis said. "I'm not saying we are there by any means, we have a long way to go before we can put ourselves on that level. But this whole journey over the past 10 years has been with that goal in mind, which is why I say that this is an extraordinarily ambitious club. This has been about putting us up with the best in the world and now the question is turning that platform into on-field success.
"
We are moving into a new phase where, if we make our decisions well, we can compete with any club in the world. We've seen two clubs this year in the Champions League final [Bayern and Borussia Dortmund], both of whom run responsible financial models and they're pretty fantastic teams, very exciting to watch. There's no reason why we can't do that."
Gazidis's optimism for next season is fuelled by other factors. There will be no damaging departure of a top player this summer; the majority of the squad are tied to long-term contracts; the younger players will be stronger; last season's signings have adapted. Gazidis, who is aware of the need for a first trophy since 2005, believes that Arsenal can win the Premier League.
Wenger remains at the heart of everything. Gazidis dismissed the notion that the manager since 1996 had an ideological block to spending, for example, £25m on a single player and he insisted that Wenger's eye for a polished diamond was just as keen as for an uncut one. He suggested that if Wenger had impressed under previous financial restrictions, he would surpass himself when afforded greater freedom in the market.
"That's why I'm excited," Gazidis said, "because our capability to spend is going up and our efficiency of spend has always been good."
Gazidis was reluctant to disclose the detail of any contract talks, offers or timings but he made it plain that he saw Wenger as the man to take the key football decisions and lead the club into the coming seasons.
"We have got a fantastic manager," Gazidis said. "We hope that he wants to do what he is doing for the long term. I believe he does. I think he is still ambitious, still driven and sees the potential of the club.
"We have a great relationship and he has a great relationship with the board as well. So, quietly and at the right time, we will make an announcement on that when things are all put in place."
[Gonna merge this, as we have already got quotes from this Gazidis statement - Quartz]
I hope your head doesn't explode. 
