Almost two years on from the boardroom reshuffle that saw him promoted to co-chair at the Emirates, Stan Kroenke’s son faces a familiar family challenge: pressure for more investment.
Those calls have grown louder during Arsenal’s hot-and-cold run of form in recent weeks. The universal consensus – even before Gabriel Jesus’s ACL injury – is that a centre-forward is badly needed this January.
The Gunners are just about clinging onto Liverpool’s coattails in the Premier League title race. But while 2nd-place would be seen as a strong finish in previous years, the bar has been raised under Mikel Arteta.
The Kroenkes did release funds to help get Arsenal back in the lucrative Champions League, which has been worth north of £100m to the club this season and last.
But spending this season has tapered off and the club’s combined wage and amortisation bill (how clubs account for new signings over a period of time) is the lowest of any of the ‘Big Six’ besides Tottenham.
Chart showing the squad cost of Liverpool - wages plus amortisation - for 2022-23, the last financial year on record.
Unlike many executives of Premier League clubs, Josh Kroenke can’t hide behind Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR).
Arsenal had about £164m of PSR leeway at the last count, based on world-renowned football finance analyst Swiss Ramble’s projections.
If KSE wanted to, they could easily give Arteta and stand-in sporting director Jason Ayto £100m to spend on a new striker. That is a fact.
They have a £70m credit facility (an overdraft, essentially) from which they could draw, or the owners could inject more money into the club via equity or a loan.
Their apparent reticence to do so only adds to the perception among some Arsenal fans that the owners think spending just enough to qualify for the top four delivers the best income-to-expenses margin.
Winning the league generally requires a less risk-averse approach that many believe is not in the Kroenke family’s DNA, although they would gladly be proved wrong.
If that’s the case, it begs the question: what is Stan and Josh Kroenke’s ultimate ambition in N5?
In principle, it’s a straightforward answer – they want to make money. What remains unclear is how and when they will get there.
The Kroenkes have never taken cash out of the club via a dividend, and it’s highly unlikely they ever will.
Instead, the aim is long-term capital growth. They bought the club for about £1bn. One day, they will sell it, probably for a huge profit. It’s a long-term plan, but it is the plan.
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