“On the subject of goals, Saturday’s game was the first time Arsenal scored more than one goal in a home league fixture is November 5th. Crazy.”

2008: £26m (£+11m)
2009: £35m (£+20m)
2010: £61m (£+46m)
2011: £13m (£-2m)
2012: £35m (£+20m)

You would think that after many years of making profit (and way in surplus of the £15m to £20m that Arsene says we need), that there will be funds available now…???

2004: £8m
2005: £8m
2006: £8m
2007: £3m
2008: £26m
2009: £35m
2010: £61m
2011: £13m

And it’s looking like 2012 will be another bumper year at Arsenal with the club selling off two of the most valuable assets in Cesc and Nasri, going on a tour of Asia, television revenues rising, ticket prices up, and planning another tour of Asia and Africa this Summer.

The cold truth is that for all businessmen, and this includes Abramovich and Sheik Mansour, they are in business to make money. You and I might not be able to see how they are profiting off the venture, but then that’s why they are billionaires, because they see ways to make profit where we do not. And there’s always a tension between the owner making that profit and the fans feeling like they are part of the team, respected, and not overly commoditized.

As for why Wenger would “reveal” this now we can only make informed speculation.

Maybe he’s trying to keep Hazard’s price low by saying that Arsenal can only pay X amount after profit? Perhaps. Though, frankly I think Hazard is out of Arsenal’s league in terms of transfer fees even if you were to ignore Wenger’s profit imperative. Every team in the world knows about Eden Hazard. He will fetch a mighty premium on the open market especially once Man City wise up and dump chaff like Nasri.

He could also be sending a message to the Arsenal supporters, like “hey guys, I really wish I could buy players like Eden Hazard, I mean look at how good he is, but this board is forcing me to make them a profit every year.” Perhaps. Though if that’s the case then I’m sure we will see a retraction and/or clarification on the dot com soon because I’m certain that the board won’t like their manager going around to the Belgian press complaining about the how the club is run.

Or maybe he just didn’t think about the comment. Maybe it’s become so ingrained in him to make the £15m every year that it’s natural to say. And maybe, just maybe, he doesn’t see anything wrong with that. In that case, the problem isn’t the statement itself but the folks in the public and the press who like to fantasize about sports as somehow operating above or outside of capitalism.

Maybe what Wenger’s statement really reveals is the magical thinking of sports fans? After all, wasn’t your first reaction when you heard that Arsenal make a profit to ask, “Why?”