Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis insists that the club could
cope without the revenue from playing Champions League football and
says that anyone who relies on that cash every year is
"foolish".
Arsenal earned £26 million from European football in 2010-11
when they reached the last-16, but their poor start to the Premier
League campaign has led many to suggest that they will struggle to
get back into the competition next season.
The Gunners have lost four of their opening seven matches to lie
15th in the table, but Gazidis maintains that they do not need to
qualify for Europe to stay afloat financially.
"We would rather qualify for it but we have a really sustainable
model that can cope without it. Not just cope, but we can do well
and compete," Gazidis said at the Leaders in Football conference at
Stamford Bridge. "It would be very foolish to build a business
model that relied on being in the Champions League for perpetuity
and I don't think any clubs do that and, if they do, then they
probably aren't being run as responsibly as they should be."
The club are viewed as a financial model which others should
follow and announced a £15 million pre-tax profit this week.
Indeed, Gazidis is pleased that the future looks bright.
"Every club has the temptation to think that money is the answer
to issues and 'if we only spend just a little bit more, it would
push us over the top of a curve' and that is what drives the cycle
of spending that you see in the game and that is not by any means
always what is successful, actually," he said.
"It is tempting to think that it is. It relieves pressure for a
while but actually builds long-term pressure in other ways. We will
continue to act with discipline to make sure we have got a good
short-term and long-term future."
With Samir Nasri, Gael Clichy and Cesc Fabregas leaving this
summer, many have suggested that Arsenal lack the financial might
to compete in wages with other clubs. However, Gazidis claimed that
there was no limit to what they could offer.
He said: "We don't have a salary ceiling. I don't know where
that story comes from. We have a very sophisticated business model
that looks at what we need to do to compete today and what we need
to do to compete next year and five years from now. I'm comfortable
we will be able to be competitive in whatever environment is
created.
"We are not looking for credit for being a self-sustaining club.
I do think it is the right model for us. It gives us stability and
the ability to look forward with confidence without worrying too
much about the ups and downs, the competitive cycle or the economic
cycle."