Arsenal new profits
Arsenal’s football revenues have increased by more than 20%, rising to £191.1m in the recent six month fiscal period. However, cash reserves have dropped to just over £100m after the club spent out on transfers. The club have pointed at the increased revenues from the Premier League broadcasting rights. This will start a new argument over ticket pricing, transfers and contracts.
No bank breaker
Sir Chips Keswick has insisted the club will not break the bank to extend Alexis Sanchez’s and Mesut Ozil’s contracts. With the pair, according to reports, holding out for £250,000 a week, the Arsenal chief has made it clear the club will continue to negotiate. Both players are out of contract in 2018.
Sir Chips did confirm that Francis Coquelin, Hector Bellerin, Laurent Koscielny and Olivier Giroud have all signed new contracts while the club has taken up the option to extend Per Mertesaker and Santi Cazorla.
Wenger out protest
According to reports, there is a Wenger out protest scheduled before the Champions League second leg tie against Bayern Munich. Bearing in mind I expect no one to actually go and watch the game after the first leg finished 5-1, I would be surprised if anyone actually turns up for the protest.
The one that got away
Serge Gnabry who is now a full German international, has been having a good season since his transfer to Werder Bremen. Gnabry has scored 10 goals already this season which is impressive considering he is playing in a team battling against relegation. Calls from some Arsenal fans have stated that perhaps Arsene Wenger sold the wrong midfielder in the summer.
SAKA, ANTONY AND 10 PREMIER LEAGUE STARS HEADING TO THEIR FIRST WORLD CUP
Operation for Santi
Santi Cazorla has had a second operation on his troublesome ankle after his scar had opened up whilst cycling. Currently, there is no timescale for a return for Cazorla which is a massive blow for the club although he has been ruled out for the season. The Spanish midfielder has been out since October 19th last year.
Under 23’s
The Under 23’s beat Chelsea 4-1, with a number of first team players featuring. Rob Holding and Danny Welbeck both got on the scoresheet, with the team also featuring Emilio Martinez, Carl Jenkinson, and Jeff Reine-Adelaide. The regular under 23 players also performed well, with both Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Reiss Nelson standing out.
Jon Toral
Jon Toral is currently on loan at Glasgow Rangers who admittedly are not in the best shape right now. However after their 2-1 defeat to Inverness on Friday, Rangers fans have hit out on social media after, from what I can gather, a pretty dismal performance from the young Arsenal man. One supporter wrote “there is absolutely no chance that Toral is on Arsenal’s books, Warburton must have seen him on the Emirates tour and brought him up here!” Oh dear!