As Arsenal continue to move on the under performing players who’s time at the club has come to an end, the amount bought in through player sales and saved wages could breach the £130,000,000 barrier.

All going well, if Arsenal get the price they seem to be demanding for the players, Arsenal could raise over £100m from the player sales alone.

Arsenal would then save an additional £32m in wages from the outgoing players. To put that into context, it would save the club £621,000 a week.

There have been reports (badly investigated reports) that Arsenal could breach the new Premier League wage increase cap rules this summer if they end up offering Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil the bumper money they demand.

English top flight clubs are allowed to increase their annual wage bills by £7m under the rules, but in the event that the attacking pair finally declare their allegiance to the Arsenal cause, the FA Cup winners would see that wage expenditure double to £15m and be in breach of the Premier League’s short-term cost control guidelines.

Arsenal’s wage bill for the 2016/17 season was reportedly £200.5m. This would mean that Arsenal could spend £207.5m on wages for 2017/18. A surplus of £7m, not taking into account other players who have built in yearly wage rises.

But if Arsenal shift £32m in wages off the books, this leaves the club around £39m in wages to play with. That is a cool £750,000 a week.

If a third of that is given to Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez, it will still leave £500,000 a week in the pot for new signings. And that is before any wages is offset by image right deals.

Alexandre Lacazette’s deal is at around £130,000 a week and Sead Kolasinac on £120,000 a week. This still leaves Arsenal £250,000.

For that surplus, Arsenal could easily sign their first choice attacking option (Thomas Lemar) and add depth in the middle of the park and still have some change in the kitty.

Whilst I know the dangers of talking about net spend, the fact that Arsenal could sign Lacazette, Kolasinac and Lemar for a combined total of less than the out going players (all 3 will cost under £100m) ensure that we maintain the model of being a self sufficient football club.

£130m+ for players no longer needed. It is good that we are going to clear the decks, but it also highlights how much wastage we have had in recent years.

Keenos
Follow @KeenosAFC