Arsenal Announce Club Profits of £25m Despite Missing Out on Champions League Football

Arsenal have reportedly made a massive profit of £25.1m this summer, despite breaking their transfer record when signing Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon.

Arsenal fans won't be too happy at the news, having seen their side struggle for league form this season, as well as being restricted to the Europa League accompanied by an early FA Cup exit.

However, the sales of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Wojciech Szczesny, Kieran Gibbs and Gabriel led to a financial surplus in the six month build up to November 2017, as shown in their financial results.

These profits have arrived despite the failure to reach the Champions League this season - which will have earned the club a further £25m.

"This has not been the easiest of campaigns but we are all working hard to ensure we have a strong finish," said Sir Chips Keswick, Arsenal chairman.

"Breaking our transfer record twice in one season and the player contracts we have signed shows our commitment to getting the club back competing for the Premier League. 

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"However our strategy remains self-financing and we must accept all the challenges that bring at a time when the inflation of transfer fees, player wages and the fees demands by agents has become super-heated.

"We need to spend effectively and be the best we can across the whole of our football operations if we are to compete at the level our ambitions for the club demand."

These results do not include the signing of £58m Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Borussia Dortmund in January, but the money raised from the sales of Francis Coquelin, Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott will have gone a long way to covering the cost.