Arsenal may not have won any trophies last year but that hasn’t affected Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis from receiving an extraordinary annual bonus of around £1m.
The bonus, which is inclusive of his total package of around £2.648m, puts him behind the Premier League’s highest paid football executive, Ed Woodward of Manchester United, as was reported in the Daily Mail.
According to reports in the British media, Woodward takes home a package above £3m, however, it hasn’t been confirmed the exact figure that the Manchester United chief executive gets due to the club’s accounting system.
The reports of the Arsenal executive taking home such a large sum will raise some eyebrows among the Arsenal supporters. In recent years, Arsene Wenger has been criticised for not buying big like Premier League rivals Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea.
Speaking to Sky Sports in July, the chief executive said that the club was not in a position to compete with United in the matter of transfer fees. He then went on to reiterate the need to build a sustainable model, which will provide the club with more sustainability.
At the time, he made it clear that the club would not sign players for the sake of it.
Arsenal’s finances have improved
Arsenal hasn’t won the title since 2003-04 and has fallen behind the pecking order when it comes to offering huge wages and inflated transfer fees. The free flowing coffers of Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United haven’t helped either.
One of the opening lines in Arsenal’s financial report is the club’s commitment to create “self-sustaining business model within which the funds generated by the business are available for further investment into the Club with the aim of achieving an increased level of on-field success which ultimately translates into the winning of trophies.”
Arsenal’s business model has been solid, even if on field performances have waivered at times. The chief executive has been instrumental in building a business model which ensured that the club didn’t slide into debt after the construction of the Emirates Stadium.
Gazidis, has admitted the need to buy selective targets rather than splurging, which has been the norm of the bigger Premier League sides. Instead, alongside Arsene Wenger, both have encouraged a self-reliant model.
Arsenal take on Swansea City after the international break and the Gunners will hope to continue their winning run against the struggling Swans, who have recently appointed Bob Bradley as their new manager.
