Interim financial results released

Ok, you get a double post today, you lucky people you!

Arsenal’s interim financial results were released today, click here to see the full shabang from the official

I just want to analyse a few quotes from newbie Ivan Gazidis that Setanta have got their mitts on from Arsenal TV, just to see if they worry you as much as they do me.

“Arsene is very focused on building one of the best young teams in the world, and we’re in the middle of that process,” Gazidis told Arsenal TV Online. “This is a team that is developing game by game, and month by month.”

Ok, fair point. We’re in the middle so we’re expecting and experiencing a bit of turbulence.

“When you look at the ages of the players that we’re putting out onto the field and the level of performance that these young players are producing, the next two or three years look very bright indeed.”

Ok, again, it’s a fair point that the current group of players, if kept together, will improve together and in theory create a good, dynamic and tight team.

“We will not, and Arsene will not, make purchases just to make a splash in the newspapers. We’ll only buy and sign players that we think add something that we don’t currently have. If Arsene believes there are players out there that can help the squad, the board has always been behind him in that. But don’t forget that we believe in the young players we already have.”

Nothing new here. But this is where the sh*t gets scary (I’ve skipped a few para’s out here as the rest was a bit same old same old.)

“If (hypothetically) we were to miss out on the Champions League next year obviously that would have a negative impact on our finances. But the impact is not dramatic so while we’d rather be in the Champions League for a wide variety of reasons, if we were to miss out we’d be very solidly positioned to be able to invest prudently and come back the following year.”

Ok, as you know, I’m thinking that unless we win the European Cup (we can dream) we’re not going to be dining at the top table next season. So basically, what Ivan is saying is, if my prediction is correct and we finish outside the top 4, we’re not going to be active in the summer transfer window. Unless of course any transfers are funded by players being sold on first, so either clearing out the dead wood (Eboue, Adebayor Song) or asset stripping (Cesc, RVP, Theo).

Can we get £15mil for Eboue, or am I reading this wrong?