‘UEFA take a pretty dim view’ – Arsenal may consider sale of women’s team
Arsenal’s women’s team may be skyrocketing in value but UEFA will not be happy if the Gunners emulate their rivals Chelsea and Aston Villa.
That is the view of football finance expert Dan Plumley, who told Football Insider exclusively that the North London side is a “powerful overall commercial enterprise”.
Despite Chelsea’s women’s side winning a stunning domestic treble, the Gunners took home the ultimate prize of the Champions League this season, defeating Catalan powerhouses Barcelona.
Arsenal then caused a stir by making Olivia Smith the first-ever £1million player in the women’s game, smashing the existing record of Naomi Girma’s deal that took her to the Blues in January.
And following on from that record-breaking transfer, Chloe Kelly and Michelle Agyemang were the stars of the show as the Lionesses retained their European Championship crown, beating Spain on penalties in a stunning upset.
The performances of the two England stars, combined with Smith‘s move to North London, will have done wonders for Arsenal’s valuation to investors, Plumley previously told Football Insider.
Arsenal unlikely to cash in on women’s team
However, despite the spike in value, finance expert Plumley told Football Insider exclusively he does not expect Arsenal to sell their women’s team.
Chelsea and Aston Villa have both registered sizeable profits from selling their women’s team, although that was done with the motivation of avoiding a finance-related sanction from the Premier League.
Both teams have since been fined by UEFA for failing to be compliant with their rules, and they do not allow the sale of assets to oneself to be registered as a profit.
When asked whether Arsenal may proactively look to boost their coffers, rather than reactively sell the women’s team as a get out of jail free card, Plumley said: “It’s plausible for all clubs, right? That’s where we’re at with the way this industry is working.
“It’s an option for all clubs. Whether or not they choose to do that is ultimately on them. With Chelsea and Villa, we knew that the subplot was PSR compliance. We’ve not seen anything to suggest that Arsenal are in as bad a situation with that as we thought Chelsea and Villa were.
“The other subplot to that is that UEFA take a pretty dim view on it. UEFA will roll that out in their calculation for financial sustainability regulations. It purely then becomes about the Premier League optics and that version of PSR that you’re looking at.
“I don’t think Arsenal necessarily need to do that in the context of the numbers that we can see, but there’s another layer to that. If it’s an investment opportunity for growth in the future, then that might add some significant value.
“I guess the counter to that is, if the women’s team and the men’s team are all under the same operation, which is what Arsenal have got, then why do you break that up?
“Because some of the parts there create quite a powerful overall commercial enterprise.
“The direct answer to the question is any club could be looking at this, but it’s individual circumstances that will dictate, and Arsenal ultimately don’t need to do this.”
Arsenal fans fear the worst after Riccardo Calafiori injury
Elsewhere in North London, whilst several of the women’s stars will be jubilant about their success, the men’s side is facing a tense wait to find out the severity of Riccardo Calafiori’s latest injury.
The Italian has endured a stop-start beginning to life in North London, missing much of last season due to fitness issues.
Calafiori went down injured in a 3-2 win over Newcastle on 27 July, four minutes after half-time, and Mikel Arteta was forced to substitute the defender.