By Ian Grant
Jet lag threat for Spurs game
Four key Arsenal players – Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Robert Pires and Sylvain Wiltord will fly back from Australia to face Spurs on 17 November.
France have arranged to play Australia on 11 November.
Arsenal can’t move the Spurs match to Sunday, because they play in the Champions League the following week.
Arsenal to complete Tavlaridis signing
Arsenal will complete the signing of Greek Under-21 centre-back Stathis Tavlaridis for £1million today, after he passed a medical.
Arsene Wenger has been impressed with the youngster from Greek side Iraklis and has offered him a four-year contract.
Silvinho-Celta saga
Reuters reports that Celta Vigo could take on Silvinho for £2.5m, if Benni McCarthy goes to Middlebrough.
Celta say they have one too many non-EU players, and McCarthy’s move would allow Silvinho to come.
There are mixed reports as to whether it will be a loan deal or permanent, with a fee of £10m mooted for the latter.
Pires – new contract
Robert Pires has proposed a new contract, including a reported £10,000/week rise. Arsenal look like playing ball.
Stam sale a mistake – Bergkamp
Dennis Bergkamp has said he thinks the selling Jaap Stam is a big mistake.
Ashburton Grove land – £32.2m
Arsenal have also disclosed to shareholders that they have paid £32.2 million to acquire land in Ashburton Grove, the site of their proposed new stadium, the cost of which is estimated at £268 million.
Financial update
Arsenal fell into the red at the operating level in the year to May 31.
It reported a £1.36m loss before player registration costs against an £8.94m profit the previous year.
A £20m exceptional profit on the disposal of intangible fixed assets in the shape of a 50% interest in Arsenal Broadband, a global portal, helped push pre-tax profits for the year to £29.4m. This compared with £21.2m in the previous year.
Amortisation of player registrations rose from £10.2m to £15.1m. However, profits on the sale of player registrations, which included internationals Marc Overmars and Emmanuel Petit in the latest period, was also up from £22.2m to £25.1m.
All told, costs and overheads shot ahead to £64.3m from £52.3m the previous year.
Turnover went up from £61.3m to £62.9m.