Arsenal have a £100million war chest to spend on players this summer, according to the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust.
The group has carried out an analysis of the club’s finances in response to a special report produced by Collins Sarri Statham Investments Ltd (CSS) which claimed the club has around £54.1m available.
The Gunners’ transfer budget is a hotly disputed figure given the club has repeatedly published accounts showing a cash balance well in excess of £200m.
However, once operating costs, cashflow and a ringfenced contingency fund set aside for if the team fails to qualify for the Champions League are all taken into account, that figure drops. Sources at the club claim there is around £80m to spend but the AST go further after work carried out on their behalf by Simon Hill, a qualified chartered accountant who has closely scrutinised Arsenal’s finances for the supporters’ group since 2008.
CSS estimates Arsenal’s year end cash balance will be £228m and although the AST believes that figure is closer to £199m, they claim that due to differences in CSS’s assessment of player trading and amounts due to creditors — plus an additional £4m received for finishing second — manager Arsene Wenger will have £100m at his disposal.
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