Adam Williams, GRV Media’s Head of Football Finance and Governance Content, spoke exclusively to Arsenal Insider about the recent financial results of both Arsenal and Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola has been vocal about spending lately, pointing out that City’s net spend is lower than several other clubs, including Arsenal, over the past few years.
He said after the January transfer window: “I am a little bit sad and upset because our net spend in the past five years we are seventh in the Premier League. So, I want to be the first, so I don’t understand why the club has not spent more money. So, I am a little bit grumpy with them.”
That did sound sarcastic, but Guardiola ended his rant by saying: “This is a fact, it is not an opinion.”
But Guardiola didn’t mention Manchester City’s higher amortisation costs and wage bill when compared to Arsenal.
Man City’s £602m financial gap over Arsenal highlighted by finance expert
Net spend is often used by some clubs to justify spending fortunes, but for Adam Williams, that factor is redundant in Manchester City’s case.
The finance expert told Arsenal Insider: “Net spend is always a crude metric to use. For starters, most people only look at one or two windows. At least Guardiola has looked a little further back. But the argument he is making is, in my view, pretty redundant.
“One of the reasons their net spend is lower than you might initially expect is because of the sales they have made from their academy and the players who’ve moved to Manchester City from the wider City Football Group.
Williams pointed out how Man City are winning with numbers that are simply bigger across several financial areas when compared to Arsenal. The Manchester club’s wage bill alone was £602 million higher over a five-year period.
He explained: “City’s total amortisation – which is how football clubs account for the cost of new signings and agents’ fees over the length of a player’s contract – over the last five years up until the end of 2024-25 was £767m. Arsenal’s was £552m.”
“Player sale profits have then shifted the dynamic massively. City have made profits of £492m, while Arsenal are at £178m – and that is after the several ‘pure profit’ sales they made last summer. There’s no doubt that Arsenal have to start selling better; it’s a part of the game now. But you can’t compare apples and oranges.”
Finance expert slams Guardiola for leaving out major figures between Manchester City & Arsenal
Williams wasn’t shy about highlighting what Pep Guardiola left out when talking about wage bills. According to him, Man City paid nearly £2 billion in wages during that time frame, far more than Arsenal.
“In terms of the argument about wage bill,” Williams continued, “City are among the highest payers in world football paying players and staff totalling £1.962bn in the past five years.”
While all this happened on one end of England, Man Utd fans weren’t happy with his comments as seen on RedCafe.net forum too.
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