Verified against four independent sources before writing. Article below (~755 words).
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Mikel Arteta had just signed a four-year contract extension and was eight days into life as a Premier League-winning manager when he was asked to explain why his employer was making up to 60 members of staff redundant. His first answer was to decline. “This question is not for me,” the Arsenal head coach said. Then he offered the club’s reasoning: the cuts, he had been told, were about putting “people in the right roles, and keep investing, to achieve what we want to achieve, the success that we want to create”.
The redundancies were put to staff on Wednesday by chief executive Richard Garlick, following an external review conducted by Boston Consulting Group. Up to 60 positions are at risk out of 871 permanent employees — roughly seven per cent of the workforce — with Arsenal targeting annual savings of between £5m and £7m. The cuts come 14 months after the club posted record revenue of £691m, and five months after it won its first league title since 2004.
Who is affected — and who is not
Arsenal have been explicit about where the axe will not fall. Coaching and performance staff across the men’s, women’s and academy setups are exempt, as are the Arsenal Foundation, Arsenal in the Community and security operations. The proposals instead target off-the-field roles: administration, commercial, marketing and stadium operations are expected to absorb the bulk of the departures. The club says it will “look to redeploy affected staff into other roles wherever possible”, and a formal consultation is under way, meaning the final figure could move.
Arteta, pressed repeatedly at his news conference before this weekend’s trip to Nottingham Forest, kept returning to the same line. “It was explained to me about the exercise, and the analysis that has been done across the club, and with the intention always to evolve, to improve,” he said. He then drew a boundary: “Obviously, I am not the right person to answer that question. That’s for sure. And hopefully everybody will respect that.”
That is a defensible position for a head coach with no input into corporate headcount. It is also an uncomfortable one, because the timing invites the comparison he is trying to avoid. Arteta’s new deal, which runs to 2030, lifts him from a reported £10m-a-year basic to a package that British outlets have valued at up to £25m including performance bonuses. It was announced a week before 60 colleagues were told their jobs were under review.
Record revenue, seventh straight loss
The numbers explain more than the optics suggest. Arsenal’s £691m turnover in 2024-25 was up £74.4m year-on-year and the highest in the club’s history, yet they still recorded a pre-tax loss of £1.4m — a seventh consecutive loss-making year, softened by £81.2m in profit from player sales. The wage bill reached £346.8m. Operating expenses climbed 37 per cent in a single year, and operating costs have risen £126.7m across three seasons.
That is the mechanism. Revenue growth has been real and rapid, but cost growth has outpaced it, and under the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules the gap matters. Trimming £7m from back-office payroll does not buy a striker, but it widens the compliance margin at a club that has spent heavily to reach the top of the league and intends to stay there.
Arsenal are not an outlier. The Independent Football Regulator’s first report found that 94 per cent of clubs across England’s top five divisions were loss-making despite combined revenues of around £9bn. Nor is this unfamiliar ground at the Emirates: in August 2020 the club made 55 staff redundant, blaming the financial damage of the pandemic, a decision that drew criticism after a summer of first-team spending.
What it means from here
The sporting context is unforgiving of distraction. Arsenal sit second in the table on 15 points after six matches, three points behind leaders Manchester City, and travel to a Forest side who have taken five points from their opening six games. Michael Oliver referees at the City Ground.
Arteta’s challenge is to keep a dressing room sealed off from a story that has landed squarely on the club’s reputation rather than its results. He has handled it the way most managers would — by declining the brief and declining it politely — but the phrase he was given to repeat, that cuts are being made to “create” success, will be tested against outcomes. If Arsenal retain the title, the restructure becomes a footnote. If they do not, 60 redundancies announced in the same month as a contract worth multiples of their combined salaries will be remembered differently.
Garlick, not Arteta, will have to answer for that. The consultation runs on.
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Two things to flag: Arteta’s salary figures differ across outlets (one reports £10m rising with £5m in bonuses, another ~£20m basic up to £25m) — I hedged with “reported” and “valued at up to”. Kick-off day for the Forest match is also reported inconsistently (Sat 17 vs Sunday), so I wrote “this weekend’s trip”. Saved to `/root/arteta-arsenal-job-cuts.html` and logged the verified facts to memory.
Sources: [Yahoo/BBC](https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/arteta-told-arsenal-job-cuts-153158826.html), [Arseblog News](https://arseblog.news/2026/10/arsenals-latest-cost-cutting-plans-put-up-to-60-jobs-at-risk/), [Inside World Football](https://www.insideworldfootball.com/2026/10/15/english-champions-arsenal-plan-job-cuts-to-lower-costs-by-7-million/), [InsiderSport](https://insidersport.com/2026/10/16/sideline-moves-arsenal-staff-layoffs/)
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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