On Monday the 8th of October, Arsenal finally made the official announcement that they had agreed a new kit deal with Adidas. The question needs to be asked, does this deal really do anything to close the investment gap between the club and its competitors?
Effective from the 1st of July 2019, Arsenal return to the German sportswear giants after 25 years in partnership with competitors Nike, and Puma. The lucrative new deal will see an increase in revenue, with the agreement thought to be worth around £65million per season. That’s a big increase on the £30million per season deal with Puma. One common question being asked by the fans is, ‘will we see a significant impact on our transfer activity from 2019 onwards?’
I don’t know whether it’s just the cynic in me, but I’m not reserving much hope. We’ve seen a fair few ‘lucrative deals’ come Arsenal’s way in the last 10 years. While we’ve seen a slight rise in spending, we are still not competing at the top. The most notable signings, of course, come in the form of Mesut Özil (2013), Alexandre Lacazette (2017), and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (2018). But even with a combined price of just over £150million, that just doesn’t measure to the spending of clubs like Manchester City, Manchester United, and Liverpool. Not to mention the spending from clubs like Everton and Fulham last summer.
Understandably, Arsenal cannot compete financially with a mega, global brand like Manchester United. City obviously have their owners to thank for their big-buck spends. Other than that, in England, Arsenal seem like they should be able to compete with absolutely any other club financially. According to Forbes, Arsenal are the 4th most profitable sports club in the world and the 6th most valuable football club. So why is it, that every summer, the fans arrive in September still feeling like there is an awful lot missing?
The age-old arguments have become a bore. The club is still paying off the stadium build, the wage bill is too high, Arsène Wenger was tight, blah de blah blah. It comes down to this. The owners just don’t want to spend money in exchange for a more competitive side. That’s it. No. Don’t try to put it down to any other excuse. The owner’s a b***ard.
I’m not expecting an outrageous spend to match the likes of Manchester United or Manchester City. But last summer is just another to add to a list of many others, that the team came into a season missing one or two players. We needed a winger. All the club had left to do, was go and get a winger. For a club that has some of the highest ticket prices in the world, and has the most financial value in London, I find it disrespectful that there haven’t been bigger investments made to enable the team to compete at the top while entertaining the ever-staying fan base.
One thing is for certain, the deal means that we will be watching our team in some much finer looking kits for the next 5 years. Puma really did give us some terrible looks over the last few seasons. My least favourite? That black and pink monstrosity in the 17/18 season that made our team look like they’d just come out of a shop in Amsterdam’s back alleys, sporting chains and whips in the window. Bleeding cat-women-without-the-claws looking… Anyway… My point is, I might be able to justify spending £50 on a shirt next season.
So, in conclusion, do I think that the Adidas kit deal will see an increase in the club’s transfer investments? No. Not really. I haven’t seen anything to suggest otherwise. I may be proven wrong in a year’s time, but right now, I don’t see any point in building up hope. Back to your positions, people.
