Arsenal announce redundancies following Covid-19 downturn

Arsenal announced the news on their club website.

Arsenal have announced they will be making 55 redundancies following the economic downturn brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. In a statement on the club website, their Head of Football Raúl Sanllehi said: "Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic we have been working hard to ensure that Arsenal Football Club emerges in a robust and strong position for the future. "Our main sources of income have all reduced significantly. Revenue from broadcasters, matchday and commercial activities have all been hit severely and these impacts will continue into at least the forthcoming 2020/21 season. "The pandemic represents one of the most challenging periods in our 134-year history and we have responded promptly by implementing wide-ranging measures to reduce our costs. Our players, senior football staff and executive team have volunteered pay cuts, we have stopped pretty much all of our capital spending, and our discretionary operating expenditure has been strictly controlled." The statement went on to announce: "Our aim has been to protect the jobs and base salaries of our people for as long as we possibly can. Unfortunately, we have now come to the point where we are proposing 55 redundancies. "We do not make these proposals lightly and have looked at every aspect of the club and our expenditure before reaching this point. We are now entering the required 30-day consultation period on these proposals." You can read the statement in full here. This will be a bitter pill to swallow for many Arsenal fans and employees, especially considering the high wages paid out to players, most notably Mesut Özil who earns a reported £18m a year while hardly featuring on the pitch at all. Many football clubs up and down the pyramid are going through similar financial struggles and this is likely to be the beginning of mass redundancies made across the industry.