Are we talking pounds here? Cause yes, thats massive...
I have their financial statement for 11/12 lying on my computer, and i just checked and saw that they did not pay out dividents in 2011, so i would be surprised if 60 million pounds (or euros) is what they payed out in 2012
I just took a quick look, could go more in detail another day if you want me to (maybe i should get my hands on their newest financial statement then), but the first things i notice are:
- Their profit have not been that high, but high enough. They have a fine turnover, which suggests a healthy bussiness, but the profit is low, mostly because they pay off on their stadium. I expect them to do this for the next years aswell
- They have a massive wagebill, paying out almost 150 million pounds per year in wages (including staff and organisation). I guess with further investments, since they haven't sold any profiles like former years, the wagebill will only rise, or at least be around that level
Which means, that if they do not qualify for the Champions League, they will not have a lot to spend on the transfer market, unless they sell off some of their assets (players)... I think Arsenal has their back against the wall - they really need to strenghen up, because a couple of seasons without Champions League qualifications, and without major player sales, could mean that they would need to reduce the wage bill and cut down the budget, which would result in a situation a lot like Milans, where they would have to hunt for bargains and free players (but aren't they already doing that?)...
Would be fun to compare some of the british and german clubs with our finances, i should look into that when i have the time