Arsenal handed financial boost with behind-the-scenes deal

Arsenal have completed a deal with a Dubai-based real estate developer that will see the club's London Colney training ground officially renamed the Sobha Realty Training Centre.

As well as allowing Arsenal to "benefit from Sobha Realty's unrivalled expertise in property and real estate to explore the development opportunities at the club's training ground", it is described by reports as a "multi-million pound agreement" that will boost the Gunners' commercial coffers.

Juliet Slot, the club's chief commercial officer spoke of a "commitment to building mutually beneficial partnerships" and how it "shows the strength of our commercial proposition and our ability to grow sustainably by developing commercial opportunities that can be invested back into our club."

The recent latest edition of the Deloitte Money League ranked the world's biggest football clubs by their revenue across the 2022/23 season. Arsenal placed tenth in the standings after raking in £463m during that campaign, trailing Manchester City (£718m), Manchester United (£648.5m), Liverpool (£594m), Tottenham (£549m) and Chelsea (£512.5m).

The Gunners were already going to receive a boost for 2023/24 due to a first season of Champions League football since 2017, but new commercial deals like this one are a welcome addition to the finances when it comes to closing gap on those above.

Ultimately, the wealthier a club is in terms of annual revenue, the more it can invest into building the best squad and on the pitch and the best infrastructure off it.

Arsenal and Sobha Realty have already been in partnership since the start of the season when the property firm bought naming rights to a premium hospitality suite at the Emirates Stadium, leading to their branding being visible both there and at Meadow Park where the women primarily play. Part of this new deal will now also see Sobha Realty branding feature on training kit sleeves.

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