In the modern footballing era, the word “Process” has often been weaponised. For rivals, it was a punchline during the lean years of Mikel Arteta’s early tenure. For the media, it was a convenient excuse to explain away eighth-place finishes. But as the 2024/25 financial results hit the desks at Companies House this week, the punchline has officially become a powerhouse.
Arsenal Holdings Limited has revealed a club transformed. For the financial year ending May 31, 2025, Arsenal posted a record revenue of £691.0 million. This isn’t just a marginal gain; it is a declaration of financial independence and strategic triumph. As we delve into these figures, a clear picture emerges: Arsenal is no longer “rebuilding.” They have built a fortress—and the rest of the Premier League is starting to look shaky by comparison.
The numbers behind the noise: A £691m statement
To appreciate the scale of this achievement, one must look at where the club stood four years ago. After failing to qualify for European football, Arsenal’s revenue plummeted, and the wage bill was a bloated mess of ageing stars on astronomical salaries. Fast forward to 2026, and the transformation is surgical.
1. The revenue engine
The headline figure of £691.0 million (up from £616.6m in 2024) was driven by a perfect storm of on-pitch success and commercial ruthlessness. Reaching the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League didn’t just bring prestige; it brought 30 home fixtures, driving match day revenue to a staggering £153.9 million. In the modern game, the Emirates Stadium has become the most efficient “cash cow” in London.
2. The selling club myth
For years, Arsenal were criticised for being “bad sellers.” That narrative died this year. The accounts show a Player Trading Profit of £81.2 million, a 55% jump from the previous year. This was fuelled by the strategic, high-value exits of homegrown stars like Emile Smith Rowe and Eddie Nketiah, alongside the sale of Aaron Ramsdale.
By selling at the peak of player value and reinvesting in “floor-raising” talent like Riccardo Calafiori and Mikel Merino, the club has finally adopted the “Liverpool Model” of sustainable growth.
3. Underlying profitability
While the club recorded a marginal overall loss of £1.4 million, that figure is deceptive. It includes a £15.2 million one-off “exceptional cost” for player impairment. Strip that away, and Arsenal’s Underlying Profit sits at £13.8 million. At a time when rivals are selling hotels to themselves to stay within PSR rules, Arsenal is making a genuine, organic profit from playing football.
The global frontier: Monetising the 100 million
Arsenal is no longer just a football team; it is a global entertainment brand. In 2025/26, the club’s digital footprint exploded. Data shows that Arsenal is searched over 22.1 million times every month globally, placing them in the top 5% of all sports teams on Earth.
The geography of revenue
This global popularity is translating directly into the club’s £263.2 million commercial revenue (a 20% increase).
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The USA factor: Following back-to-back summer tours, the United States now generates 9% of Arsenal’s global web traffic. Retail revenue in North America is up 30%, as fans from New York to LA buy into the “Saka/Odegaard” era.
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The Asian markets: Indonesia (9% of global search volume) and Brazil (6%) have become critical hubs for retail and sponsorship.
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Retail growth: The club reported a 27% increase in retail revenue. This isn’t just kit sales; it’s the lifestyle collaborations with Adidas and brands like Labrum that have made Arsenal the “coolest” club in the world.
When you have over 108 million social media followers, you don’t just ask for sponsorship; you dictate the terms. The renewal of the Adidas deal and the full year of Sobha Realty income are proof that Arsenal is now a premium destination for global capital.
The big six comparison: A chasm opens
This is where the “Arteta Process” truly shines. When we compare Arsenal’s 2024/25 financials to our rivals, the stability of the Emirates project is jarring.
| Club | Revenue | Profit/Loss (Net) | Wage Bill |
| Arsenal | £691.0m | (£1.4m) / £13.8m* | £346.8m |
| Man City | £694.1m | (£9.9m) | £420m+ |
| Man United | £666.5m | (£33.0m) | £315m |
| Spurs | £585.6m | (£26.2m) | £250m |
| Chelsea | £468.5m | £128.4m** | £400m+ |
**Underlying profit excluding one-offs. *Chelsea profit driven by selling the Women’s team and hotels to sister companies.
Arsenal vs. The Manchester giants
Arsenal has officially leapfrogged Manchester United in revenue. While United posted a £33m loss and is undergoing mass redundancies under INEOS, Arsenal is expanding. We are now within just £3.1m of Manchester City’s total revenue. We are competing with state-backed projects using a self-sufficient model. That is a miracle of management.
The London rivalry
Tottenham remains over £100m behind in revenue, despite having a stadium that hosts NFL and Beyoncé. Chelsea, meanwhile, is the definition of “financial chaos.” Their 2024 profit was manufactured through accounting loopholes (selling their Women’s team to their own parent company). Arsenal’s profit is real; Chelsea’s is a shell game.
The Amorim flaw: Why the media narrative is wrong
This brings us to the core of the media’s disparity. Lately, every new manager—most notably Ruben Amorim at Manchester United—is compared to Mikel Arteta. The pundits ask: “Why won’t United give Amorim the same time Arsenal gave Arteta?”
This comparison is fundamentally flawed for three reasons:
1. Political capital vs. Financial panic
When Arteta took over, he was given the “political capital” to tear the house down. He was allowed to terminate the contracts of high-earning stars (Ozil, Aubameyang) because the board was unified. Amorim enters a United where the manager is often the “fall guy” for a fractured board. You can’t “Trust the Process” if the people running the process change every 18 months.
2. The early success buffer
The media often forgets that Arteta bought himself time by winning the FA Cup in his first eight months. This wasn’t “blind faith” from the Kroenkes; it was a reward for tangible silverware. Managers like Amorim are often measured against “potential,” whereas Arteta delivered a trophy during his worst statistical season.
3. The structural rebuild
Arteta’s first 50 games were spent lowering the average age of the squad and fixing a broken culture. The Wage Bill Efficiency of £346.8m we see today is the result of that pain. Other “Big Six” clubs are unwilling to take the short-term hit of finishing 8th to achieve long-term health. They want the “Arteta result” without the “Arteta sacrifice.”
The “Patience” disparity
The final disparity is one of expectation. The media demands that every club find “their Arteta,” but they ignore the fact that the Arsenal board provided a level of insulation that is extinct elsewhere.
Richard Garlick, Arsenal’s CEO, noted that Champions League qualification is a “pre-requisite” for self-sufficiency. Arteta achieved this while reducing the club’s reliance on KSE loans. In contrast, clubs like Chelsea and United are still throwing good money after bad, hoping a new manager can fix a broken financial engine.
Arsenal didn’t just give Arteta “time.” They gave him a unified structure, a clear recruitment strategy, and a global marketing machine that was willing to wait for the results.
Conclusion: The new reality
As we look at the £691 million on the balance sheet, the £81.2 million in transfer profit, and the 108 million followers worldwide, the conclusion is unavoidable. Arsenal is the best-run club in the country.
The “Process” wasn’t a gamble; it was a total reimagining of what a modern football club should be. While our rivals scramble to meet PSR deadlines and sack managers every 50 games, Arsenal is moving into a new era of dominance.
We have the manager. We have the squad. And now, we have the financial firepower to match anyone on the planet. The next time you hear a pundit ask why Ruben Amorim isn’t being given “the Arteta treatment,” remind them of this:
Patience isn’t just about time. It’s about having a plan worth waiting for.