Michel Platini and Arsène Wenger make unlikely bed-fellows. Many have been the time when Platini has called out Wenger for his acquisition of junior players from European clubs. And many has been the time when Wenger has declared that he is just operating shrewdly in an open employment market. Yet in the midst of this argument there is common ground on the core question for the whole of football: financial sustainability.
So this week’s announcement by Platini that in the coming year’s, club’s must balance their books and spend within the boundaries of their earnings is great news for Arsenal – and a moment of warning for the Manchester City’s and Chelsea’s of the game.
The premise is that over a three-year period, a club must earn more than it spends – a simple and common indicator of a businesses financial health. For a club like Arsenal this is second nature – for Manchester City and their like it will be a major challenge. This might act as partial explanation for the spending spree City seem about to go on – with a raft of not-quite-world-class names like Dzeko, Higuain and Gogo linked heavily in the last couple of days. If they continue that spending for another three years, they will doubtless have a title-contending team, and they can strip back their outlay – or sell-off a raft of surplus players.
So is this change in the fundamental financial approach of football’s governance what Arsenal need to get ahead of their competitors?
Possibly, but it’s a short-term and pyrrhic victory, because as much as it might set back some clubs for a few years whilst they balance the books, for the biggest teams, and by that I mean the ones who Arsenal have shown they cannot compete with this season, it is an easy-fix. And a worrying one: because the way round Platini’s model is what we might call “the Florentino Perez” solution.
Perez’s approach to buying superstars is built in the insight that through a few key superstars you can earn merchandising revenues that pay-off the exorbitant transfer and wages you pay for them. And which cover the costs of your whole club. It was a key motivator in buying Cristiano Ronaldo, now confirmed as only the world’s second best player, but still it’s most bankable face.
What I fear is that the economies of the biggest clubs might be forced to focus moreand more on the bankable superstars to bring in the tertiary revenues that can balance the books. And if that culture needs to spread into the top eight or so clubs in Europe, then Arsenal might still be left outside, staring in in fear and wonder. Because right now, if Cesc goes, we have few players who can sell shirts, and little sign of where they might come from.
So whilst we might be proven to be the best run club in Europe, we might also be the one that cannot scale-up to meet the commercial demands of a new era in football.