Arteta defends up to 60 job cuts at Arsenal as costs rise

Credit: Getty Images

Mikel Arteta has defended Arsenal's decision to cut up to 60 jobs across the club, insisting the restructuring is necessary to help Arsenal continue 'evolving' and achieving success, while stressing he is 'not the right person' to field questions on the matter.

The Premier League champions have informed some, though not all, staff whose roles are at risk following a consultation process led by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) that began before the end of last season, as reported by the Guardian. Arsenal are hopeful the number of redundancies can be reduced and will attempt to redeploy affected employees where possible, although some job losses are understood to be unavoidable.

The catering and travel departments are among those affected, while the men's and women's first team performance and coaching staff will not be impacted. The academy, Arsenal Women, Arsenal in the Community, the Arsenal Foundation and site security teams are also exempt from the review, which was overseen internally by managing director Richard Garlick.

Scrutiny over timing

The timing of the proposed cuts has drawn attention given it follows last week's announcement of Arteta's new contract, reportedly worth more than £20m a season. Arsenal maintain the restructuring process began before that deal was confirmed.

Asked about the redundancies, Arteta declined to go into detail. “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. “Some decisions have to be taken, to put people in the right roles, and keep investing to achieve what we want to achieve on the success that we want to create. So that has been explained. Obviously I am not the right person to answer that question. That's for sure. And hopefully everybody will respect that.”

Arsenal's most recent financial accounts, covering the 2024-25 campaign, showed operating costs rising from £148m to £201m year on year, with owner Kroenke Sports & Entertainment understood to be keen on reducing costs despite the club winning the Premier League title in May.

Changes behind the scenes

Arteta was closely involved in reshaping Arsenal's medical department over the summer, which saw former Aston Villa team doctor Arnaldo Abrantes arrive at the club, and is believed to have strengthened his backroom staff in other areas too.

Arsenal travel to Nottingham Forest on Sunday, the first of four away fixtures in their next five matches. The scale of the proposed job cuts, and how many of the 60 at risk roles are ultimately lost, is expected to become clearer in the coming weeks as the consultation process continues.