Tag Archives: She Wore

5 reasons why selling Aubameyang makes perfect sense for Arsenal

3 Replies

The stories doing the rounds about various Chinese clubs lining up a big money move for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are likely to be no more than click bait at the moment.

Aubameyang was reportedly in talks with Arsenal to add an extra year to his contract – taking it from 2 years left to 3 – and at the same time increasing his £180,000 a week salary closer to £250,000. The stories may well also be getting leaked by his agent, who is trying to force Arsenal’s hand in negotiations.

Chinese clubs have attempted to sign Aubameyang in the past.

Whilst at Dortmund, a £62million move to Guangzhou Evergrande fell through; and Tianjin Quanjian had agreed to pay Dortmund £71m for Aubameyang six months prior to his eventual move to Arsenal.

£300,000 a week is reportedly on the table from Shanghai SIPG, a figure would be very tempting for Aubameyang.

Cashing in may well also interest Arsenal, especially if a bid north of £70million comes in for last seasons Premier League Golden Boot winner.

There are 5 good reasons why Arsenal should cash in on Aubameyang if the right offer comes in

  1. Aubameyang is reaching 30. With 2 years left on his contract this summer is the last opportunity where we can sell for big money and reinvest.

 

  1. In Alexandre Lacazette, Arsenal have a world class striker ready to step up. This means the money raised from Aubameyang can be re-invested elsewhere in the starting XI, rebalancing a top heavy squad.

 

  1. £70m would be more than enough to buy someone like Nicolas Pepe; and have enough change to sign a striker to sit between Lacazette and Nketiah.

 

  1. Liverpool have shown in recent years how important it is to sell at the right time, for the right price, and reinvest. Even if that means selling your best player. You strengthen the team by selling an individual.

 

  1. Too often we have kept hold of ageing players 1 season too long, selling them a year after for a lot less money – Vieira, Sanchez, Henry and RVP could have generated £200m in sales. We kept them one year extra and they raised less than £50m – missing out on the likes of Torres, Saurez and Salah in the process.

At the moment Arsenal have 2 top class strikers but do not have the creativity to get the ball to him (sorry Ozil fans!).

It makes a lot of sense to sell one of Aubameyang or Lacazette and reinvest that into a top class wide man like Pepe.

Some will put an argument of Aubameyang being kept and Lacazette being sold, but the key is age.

Lacazette is 2-years younger than Aubameyang. He has more years left in the tank. If the Frenchman was sold, in 2 years time you would be in a situation where you need to spend £50million to replace Aubameyang (the argument that Nketiah might be ready to step up then is too much of a risk).

By keeping Lacazette, it keeps time on our side. We can continue investing elsewhere in the team knowing that he will be around for another 4 years.

Reinvestment is a risk.

As much as you might end up with Sadio Mane, Firmino and Mo Salah, you could also end up with Divock Origi, Lazar Marković and Adam Lallana.

I think selling Aubameyang and reinvesting the money is worth the risk…

Keenos

Why are sponsors deserting Arsenal?

Leave a reply

In December 2018, Britain’s biggest gambling companies voluntarily agreed to a “whistle-to-whistle” television advertising ban.

The Remote Gambling Association (RGA) struck a deal to stop adverts during live sports broadcasts from the 2019/20 season.

Whilst this agreement did not include shirt and league sponsorship and digital advertising around a pitch, it seems like many of the smaller gambling firms have decided to reduce what they spend on team sponsorship.

This would explain why the 6 betting companies to sponsor Arsenal are no longer renewing their deal.

Also no longer an Arsenal sponsor mining into the 2019/20 season is Chinese carmaker BYD.

The deal with BYD was always a questionable one.

A couple of days after Arsenal announced the agreement, it transpired that the person doing the deal on before of BYD has was neither an employee, nor been given authorisation to conduct business in its name.

It was then confusing when BYD appeared on the substitutes bench seats throughout the season, seemingly indicating that Arsenal had agreed a deal.

The feeling is that after the fraudulent deal was exposed, both Arsenal and BYD agreed a one year contract, likely at a lot lower than what the fake deal was signed for. This would have benefited both sides.

BYD would get exposure to the British market at a low price and without having to do much work. It was too late for Arsenal to start negotiations with partner before the start of the season and, having already paid for those seats and other advertising materials, it was better to agree a deal for less money than have no money at all – and actually make a loss.

The 1-year agreement over and Arsenal will announce a new official car partner shortly.

The Gatorade deal was never a really “pay for advertising” type sponsorship deal. It was more of a partnership.

Gatorade were announced as Arsenal’s Sports Drink and Sports Nutrition partner in 2013 in a joint announcement alongside Liverpool. Liverpool also no longer count the drinks brand a sponsor or partner.

The deal saw Arsenal’s first team, under-21 and under-18 teams use Gatorade’s elite portfolio of sports fuel products and equipment  during training sessions and on match days. In return of free, unlimited products, Gatorade had a presence on LED boards and branding within the Emirates stadium.

Gatorade have a track record of becoming sponsors / partners of sports teams and instead of paying for the privileged, offering free product.

A team like Arsenal will not struggle to find another “sports drink and sports nutrition partner”.

Star Lager are the 8th brand to have ended their association with Arsenal.

The Nigerian beer company became Arsenal’s official beer partner in Nigeria back in 2016, signing a reported 5-year deal. It is not clear why this deal has ended 2 years early.

Star Lager also announced a similar partnership with Manchester City back in 2016. A quick look at Manchester City’s partners indicates that their agreement with the Premier League champions has also ended.

As always, you can either read the headline that makes you think that companies are running away from Arsenal, or you can take the time to look into who has left, and why.

There is not anything sinister going on, and Arsenal have recently agreed a big money deal with Adidas to become a key partner. The deal with the German kit manufacture is reported to be the 3rd biggest in history.

With Visit Rwanda and a new Emirates deal set to kick in from this summer, Arsenal will see their commercial income increase by £50million from what was shown in the 2017/18 accounts.

Keenos

Liverpool victory highlights how poorly Arsenal have been run

1 Reply

If I asked the question: “Who has the better squad – Arsenal or Liverpool?” unanimously the response would be “Liverpool.”

If I then asked a follow up question “Why?” unanimously the response would be “they have invested more.”

But that is actually untrue. Liverpool have not invested more, they have simply invested better.

If we look at the net figures since 2011 (the first summer after which the Fenway Group took over), Liverpool have only spent £10m more than Arsenal.

Money spent on player salaries during that period is also very similar. Arsenal have spent £1.397bn, Liverpool £1.381bn.

Combined spending on transfer fees and salaries are also near identical. Arsenal have spent £1.642bn on net fees and salaries, whilst Liverpool have spent £1.637bn. That is a difference of just £5m

In terms of revenue, Arsenal lead the way with £2.243bn generated since 2011. Liverpool have generated £2.255m

So since the Fenway Group took over in 2010, Liverpool and Arsenal have generated similar income and spent similar on players + salaries.

Of course, in that time Arsenal have won 3 FA Cups whilst Liverpool have won the Champions League and League Cup. Both teams have finished above the other 4 times. So you could argue that the similar outlay have resulted in a similar level of success.

As it stands, Liverpool have a much superior squad than Arsenal and you feel it will take Arsenal some time to catch back up.

In summary, Arsenal need to spend what they generate better. They need to buy more players with a better sell on value (think what Liverpool got for Coutinho and Luis Saurez), whilst maintain better control over their wage bill.

I am willing to give those running the club the benefit of the doubt.

The majority of the above was with Ivan Gazidis and Arsene Wenger at the wheel. Up until 2015, we were out performing Liverpool on and off the pitch. In the 3 years from 2016 to now, we have fallen off the pace.

With the new commercial deals coming in and Raul Sanlehhi as the new captain of the ship, we need to be established and then move forward again.

It might take a couple of years for Arsenal to catch Liverpool back up, but with both clubs having similar spending power, it is certainly not mission impossible. We just need to spend what we have better.

Keenos