Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi’s shadow will loom large over tonight’s Champions League clash at the Emirates, as Arsenal target another history-making night in North London.
Al-Khelaifi, who is head of Qatar’s sports sovereign wealth fund QSI, is emblematic of the football finance system that has made life difficult for Arsenal’s executive team in the last 20 years.
Paris Saint-Germain became football’s second Gulf state-backed team in 2011, following in the footsteps of Abu Dhabi-backed Manchester City three years earlier. Now, Newcastle United have joined their ranks.
The business model of these clubs could not be further from that of Arsenal, the Premier League’s original self-sufficient club. PSG, City and Newcastle all operate on benefactor framework. Their owners are prepared to shoulder massive financial losses in exchange for glory on the pitch.
Why Arsenal have struggled to keep up with state-run clubs
Man City, Arsenal’s arch-rivals on the pitch and in the boardroom in recent years, have become profitable in recent seasons but are still almost £500m down since the takeover in 2008. If you look at the accounts for City Football Group, their multi-club holding company where costs across the multi-national are pooled, the losses run into the billions. That’s how much it cost to deliver the first Champions League title to the Gulf, a feat that Arsenal – one of English football’s traditional ‘big three’ – are yet to achieve.
Mikel Arteta’s side can take a huge leap towards correcting that if they overcome a magnificent PSG side at the Emirates tonight. To get to this stage, owner Stan Kroenke has had to stray from the self-funding model that Arsenal committed to when they moved to the Emirates Stadium in 2006.
Football has changed since then, first with the rise of Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea, then the state-backed clubs and now ultra-ambitious challengers backed by private wealth. To stay remotely close to the competition, Arsenal’s owners, who themselves command a £12bn-valued sports empire, have been forced to cover financial losses with external investment.
Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) and Financial Fair Play have historically not proved the anchor to rivals’ ambitions that the Gunners hoped they would. They are slowing down some clubs, though others like Chelsea have deployed accounting sleights of hand to facilitate exorbitant spending.
To fund the Gunners’ renaissance on the pitch in recent years, Kroenke has lent the club £324m from his own pocket, which is now the subject of a legal challenge from Man City in the arbitration courts. Their argument is that interest-free loans from shareholders are a form of subsidy and should be subject to the same fair market value assessment as commercial deals, such as their own with Etihad, with owner-linked companies.
Stan Kroenke got into football club ownership to make money, just as he did with has investments in the NFL, NBA and NHL, which are effectively cash machines because those leagues have stricter cost controls in place, guaranteeing profitability. In North London, he is down on his £800m investment in Arsenal.
Stan Kroenke beginning to see positive financials signs
The tide is starting to turn, however. They posted a loss of £18m in the last financial year, down on £54m, £127m, £46m and £52m in the previous seasons. Their return to the Champions League has been instrumental here, with Arsenal’s UEFA earnings in 2024-25 already close to the £100m mark.
Credit: Adam Williams/TBR Football/GRV Media
After a relatively modest season in the transfer market, they will return to profit in 2024-25.
But, as Mikel Arteta has said, Arsenal are gearing up for a “big summer.” A world-class striker is seen as one of the final pieces of the jigsaw. They don’t come cheap. Martin Zubimendi meanwhile will set the Gunners back £51m if his anticipated move from Real Sociedad materialises.
This is the cycle of wage and transfer inflation that Arsenal have been caught up in against their will.
Credit: Adam Williams/TBR Football/GRV Media
PSG have eschewed the readymade superstars in favour of a younger, hungrier and, frankly, much better team, but the 13-time Ligue 1 champions still have comfortable the highest wage bill in world football: £553m, compared to Arsenal’s £328m.
At the Emirates tonight, that is what they are up against.
Arsenal receive £3.3m under UEFA IRC scheme
Another way that football’s financial web is encroaching on the sport itself is the fixture calendar.
For owners and stakeholders at governance level, more matches equals more money. That’s why we now have the new Champions League format that Stan Kroenke lobbied for.
Pre-season tours meanwhile are becoming more taxing, while the emergence of post-season tours is another trend that will likely worry Mikel Arteta, whose side have been beset by injuries to key players this term.
The international scene is also expanding. FIFA is considering a 64-team World Cup in 2034, up from 48 in the United States next summer. An expanded Club World Cup is now part of the furniture too. Again, that was an ideal backed by Arsenal’s owners, though they won’t be competing in the tournament in June.
At UEFA international level, there are more matches too, or at least more taxing competitive matches within the Nations League.
European football’s governing body do, however, have a scheme which compensates clubs for releasing players for international duty.
New figures show from UEFA show that Arsenal have received £3.3m in the 2020-24 cycle.
That was the second highest in the Premier League behind Manchester City and the seventh highest in Europe behind Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich and tonight’s opponents, Paris Saint-Germain.
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PSG vs Arsenal, the Visit Rwanda derby: Gunners under pressure to dump sleeve sponsor
It has been a good run for the UAE airline Emirates in the Champions League.
Arsenal’s historic victory over two legs against Real Madrid in the quarter-finals saw both sides sport the Emirates logo on their shirts, while tonight’s clash with PSG will be the same setup.
Arsenal and PSG also share another sponsor in Visit Rwanda, the tourist board of the East African nation.
Visit Rwanda have been Arsenal’s shirt sleeve sponsor since 2018, while the Parisians’ training kit, warm-up kit and women’s shirt sleeves bear the Visit Rwanda brand.
Arsenal’s deal with the organisation – which is worth around £10m annually – is up for renewal at the end of the season and they under increasing pressure to scrap it following international condemnation of the Rwandan government’s domestic and foreign policy.
It is not incidental that Rwanda president Paul Kagame is an Arsenal fan who regularly tweets about the Gunners and has been spotted at the Emirates Stadium. He is believed to have led the deal.
PSG have just renewed their deal with Rwanda until 2028. It remains to be seen whether Arsenal, who are said to be courting shirt sleeve sponsorship offers in the region of £15-20m per year, will do the same.
