New Arsenal CEO has immediately been given £173m mission

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Mikel Arteta and Edu Gaspar deserve huge credit for spearheading Arsenal’s revival in recent years, but a huge executive team have created the conditions for them to succeed.

Aside from convincing Stan Kroenke to break from what has historically been a relatively conservative recruitment strategy, the executive branch have streamlined processes and made the right hires.

The man in charge of the operation at the highest level? Vinai Venkatesham, Arsenal’s CEO for the last three years who has been at the club in various capacities since 2010.

Beginning as head of global partnerships, where he was responsible for nurturing Arsenal’s commercial deals with the likes of Emirates, Venkatesham eventually worked his way up to leading the executive team.

But it was announced that the former 2012 Olympics commercial manager would be moving on at the end of the season.

Richard Garlick, a lawyer by trade who joined Arsenal as director of football operations and administration in 2021, was named as his successor in January.

There has been no formal announcement that Garlick has officially started his new role, but he updated his LinkedIn profile in May to reflect his new position.

The average salary for Arsenal’s highest paid director over the last decade is about £1.6m, and Garlick will be expected to earn every penny when it comes to negotiating transfers and administering the club.

To explore what the club might look like under Garlick, TBR Football spoke exclusively to Liverpool University football finance lecturer and Price of Football author Kieran Maguire.

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Success under Adidas is key for Arsenal

Unlike his predecessor, Garlick’s does not have a specifically commercial background.

And given that Arsenal’s commercial income – that’s revenue from sponsorship, merchandise, events and the like – is the lowest of the Big Six, he will likely have is work cut out for him now.

There are green shoots – Arsenal’s return to the Champions League last season will give them more leverage in sponsorship negotiations and the relationship with Adidas is thriving.

Arsenal released their new third kit, which is Adidas Originals-branded, earlier this week to a rapturous reception from supporters.

With the German sportswear giant, Arsenal have also branched out into streetwear in recent years, likely inspired by the success of, for example, Paris Saint-Germain’s partnership with Air Jordan.

Maguire explained why this will likely be a lucrative market for Garlick to further establish Arsenal in, ultimately with benefits that will materialise in the recruitment budget.

“We have seen football kit transcend into the athleisure market in recent years.

“There have been some real trailblazers in this regard, especially when clubs are able to partner with celebrities and get endorsements from influencers and so on.

“Arsenal have an opportunity via the Originals deal. It is proving to be very popular with footwear, with Gazelles, Sambas and so on.

“Previous Adidas kits hold special memories for Arsenal fans. There is no reason why this can’t continue.

“What they want to do is increase commercial income, which is the area where Arsenal have underperformed in recent years and need to address.”

Richard Garlick’s biggest challenge at Arsenal

Arsenal have no issues in terms of PSR (Premier League and UEFA spending rules) at present, but the Kroenke model requires any new signings they make to be fully costed.

Commercial income therefore is key to building and retaining the best possible squad.

Arsenal’s £173m commercial income in 2022-23, the last season for which full financial data is available, was comfortably the lowest of Tottenham, Liverpool, Chelsea and the two Manchester clubs.

This has to change, insists Maguire, whether through the tentatively-planned expansion of the Emirates Stadium or other means.

“Richard Garlick’s biggest challenge will be to increase revenue streams.

“Historically, they are only club other than Man United to record matchday income of over £100m per year.

“But we did see a 25 per cent increase at Man United in seasons 2022-23, and we expect that to continue as there have been modest season ticket prices and, more significantly, bigger increases for matchday tickets and hospitality.

“Unfortunately, I regret to say, this has extended to the disabled fans’ car parks at Old Trafford.

“This is only going to head in one direction. Arsenal will be looking to see how they can bridge that particular gap.

“That could be by through addressing the capacity constraint they had at the Emirates.

“When they moved into the stadium, that was not considered to be an issue. But you have to run to stand still as far as matchday income is concerned for the elite clubs.

“The other area Garlick needs to look at is Garlick’s commercial revenue.

“It is around half that Man City and substantially lower than Liverpool and Man United.

“Unless Arsenal do address this, they are going to be starting each season with half a hand tied behind their back.

“If you have competitors who are starting £100 or £200m in front of you, that has big implications for PSR.”

Man City’s 115 charges: How will Garlick and Arsenal react?

Arsenal were known to be one of the clubs that sided with the Premier League in Man City’s case against its associated party transaction rules.

That case, for which the outcome is not yet known, was billed as something of a warm up match for the independent commissions hearing of the Premier League’s 115 charges against Man City.

This week, The Times reported that the statute of limitations may force clubs to seek retroactive arbitration against City (for lost titles, European places etc )before the end of the case itself.

City insist they will be cleared of all charges, but how will Arsenal and Garlick react if they are not?

“As far as Premier League prize money is concerned, the difference between 1st and 2nd is only around £2m or £3m.

“However, for those clubs that are qualifying for Europe or not, the breakdown of revenues of the central pool shows that the winners get 40 per cent, 2nd-place 30 per cent, 3rd-place 20 per cent, and 4th-place 10 per cent.

“So there would be implications there and also a knock-on effect in terms of it perhaps affecting Arsenal’s UEFA coefficient.

“Away from non-broadcasting money, Arsenal’s senior sponsors will no doubt have paid bonuses had Arsenal won the Premier League or qualified for Europe.

“Therefore, they would be able to claim for that lack of revenue.

“It also has to be stressed that Man City are innocent until proven otherwise, so we can’t say anything concrete about potential implications.“