August 6 – Arsenal’s head of recruitment is among 55 staff redundancies as the club became the first in the English Premier League to announce significant job losses caused by the effects of Covid-19.
In April first-team players and head coach Mikel Arteta agreed a 12.5% pay-cut but the club say they now face “more significant and longer-lasting reductions in our revenue than we all hoped”.
Head of recruitment Francis Cagigao, who unearthed the likes of Cesc Fàbregas, Héctor Bellerín and Gabriel Martinelli, is among those leaving in a swathe of redundancies.
Arsenal, whose largest shareholder is the millionaire American businessman Stan Kroenk, insisted they had looked at “every aspect of the club and our expenditure before reaching this point”.
In a statement released on the club’s website on Wednesday, head of football Raul Sanllehi and managing director Vinai Venkatesham said one of the key reasons for the cutbacks is to “maintain investment in the team”.
They said revenue from broadcasters, matchday and commercial activities had all been “hit severely” and that the club are facing one of the “most challenging periods” in their history.
“We know this is upsetting and difficult for our dedicated staff and our focus is on managing this as sensitively as possible,” the club concluded in a statement.
Arsenal, who won a record 14th FA Cup against Chelsea on Saturday, cited the loss of revenue from fans likely not being able to return to Emirates Stadium for the start of the 2020-21 season and only in limited numbers after that.
But the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust (AST) told the BBC it wants further explanation saying it had hoped the players’ wage cut “would be used to ensure all Arsenal staff are looked after in these difficult times”.
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