Top Arsenal chief isn't happy about what Gunners spent £25m on in record-smashing transfer spree

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It’s early days, but it isn’t shaping up to be a box-office January transfer window for Arsenal, where the mood music is that Stan Kroenke is reluctant to bankroll major spending.

‘Silent Stan’ – who is still the ultimate authority at the Emirates despite his son, Josh Kroenke, taking on a more public-facing role – doesn’t intervene at the front end of his franchises unless absolutely necessary.

Set the budgets, make good hires, and let them get on with it. That is the 77-year-old billionaire’s mantra in North London, California and Colorado, where his various sports outposts are spread out.

Arsenal are 2nd in the Premier League table, albeit a distant 2nd to leaders Liverpool. If they end the season there, coupled with a decent Champions League run, Stan Kroenke will be content.

It would be the third season in a row that Mikel Arteta – whose hopes of a second honour as Arsenal boss were dented by Tuesday’s 2-0 League Cup defeat to Newcastle – has finished as runner-up in the league.

To supporters desperate for a first Premier League title in over 20 years, that record might look like stasis. But for Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, a £12.75b-valued company? That’s progress.

For them, success on the pitch needs to be sustained and sustainable. They don’t want to put any money into the business, nor do they want to take any out at this stage. Self-sufficiency, that is the goal.

Yes, the Kroenkes would love to see Arsenal win a trophy, but the ultimate KPI is numbers on a balance sheet, not silverware in a cabinet.

So while a first Premier League title in two decades or first European trophy in the modern era would likely be the catalyst for a lucrative commercial boom, would it be worth the price paid to deliver it?

It’s an alien worldview for fans, but that is how they and indeed most owners in the Premier League think.

It is also why Arsenal are relatively risk-averse in the transfer market. The emphasis is on value and long-term strategy, making the right signings at the right time for the right price.

Blasting £150m on Alexander Isak doesn’t align with that. At least, not in January, a month which routinely sees big clubs held to ransom, though the Gunners may revive their interest in Isak in the summer.

It’s a philosophy dictated by the moneymen in N5, not Mikel Arteta, nor any other member of the football department currently overseen by interim sporting director Jason Ayto.

Any efficiencies in terms of finance that Arsenal can find will be welcomed by the Spaniard and his team given that reduced costs typically translates to a bigger playing budget.

And one of the head honchos at the Emirates has highlighted one area in particular where money is pouring out of the club, just as it is with their rivals.

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Tim Lewis wants to cut down on agent fees

Arsenal spent around £200m to sign Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber in 2023-24. That was comfortably the most the club has ever splashed out in a single season.

Arsenal’s most expensive signings

While we don’t yet have access to their accounts for the season, we can confidently say that they will have posted their sixth annual financial loss in succession.

The total deficit over that period stands at around £280m, mainly as legacy of the seven-year absence from the lucrative Champions League, which the club spent big to restore themselves to.

That isn’t a habit Kroenke wants to get in to, however, especially given the associated expenditure with agents and other intermediaries.

Official records from the FA show that Arsenal spent £25m on agents in 2023-24, which was the fifth most in the Premier League.

Now, Arsenal executive vice-chairman Tim Lewis has expressed his frustrations with football’s financial ecosystem which has led to agents skimming increasing cash from clubs.

In an interview with The Times about the potential impact of an independent regulator for English football, Lewis said: “I'd also like it to look at better regulation of agents.

“In excess of £400million left the English game last year last season in the direction of agents.”

As well as curbing the earning potential of intermediaries, Lewis said he also wants the government to address the negative impact Brexit has had on clubs’ access to young European talent.

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When will Stan Kroenke sell Arsenal?

After a few years of heavy losses, Kroenke now wants to prove out his business model at Arsenal and show would-be buyers that the club can turn consistent profits.

Kroenke’s long-term plan is one of capital appreciation – AKA buy low, sell high.

He has spent around £1bn to acquire 100 per cent of Arsenal’s equity and thinks there is far more upside to be achieved yet.

At present, most appraisals value Arsenal at around £3bn.

But with Arsenal exploring expanding the Emirates at a cost of £500m and, if Arteta’s recent overtures are anything to go by, potentially thinking about a multi-club model, don’t expect a sale any time soon.

As well as further exploiting the US market, which most experts think is football’s next big revenue panacea, Arsenal are exploring ways to monetise fans via technologies like web3 and immersive reality.

Sponsorship is another major growth area that Kroenke believes can unlock greater enterprise value, with KSE having just set up a centralised unit to oversee new partnerships across all of their franchises.