Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has defended the club’s planned workforce reduction, saying the move is intended to improve its operations and support its ambitions for greater success. The Premier League side is preparing to eliminate up to 60 positions, representing approximately seven per cent of its 871 permanent employees, following…...
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has defended the club’s planned workforce reduction, saying the move is intended to improve its operations and support its ambitions for greater success.
The Premier League side is preparing to eliminate up to 60 positions, representing approximately seven per cent of its 871 permanent employees, following an internal review of its organisational structure.
Arsenal chief executive Richard Garlick communicated the decision to staff this week, with several departments expected to be affected. However, coaching and performance personnel across the men’s and women’s teams will be exempt from the cuts.
The planned redundancies will also exclude employees of the Arsenal Foundation, Arsenal in the Community and the club’s security department.
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According to BBC Sport on Friday, Arteta initially declined to discuss the decision in detail when questioned at a news conference ahead of Arsenal’s Premier League fixture against Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
“This question is not for me,” the Spaniard said.
He subsequently explained that the decision was connected to the club’s efforts to improve its organisational structure and position itself to achieve its long-term objectives.
“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,” Arteta said.
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“Some decisions have to be taken to put people in the right roles, and keep investing, to achieve what we want to achieve, the success that we want to create. That has been explained.”
The Arsenal manager stressed that he was not directly responsible for answering questions about the redundancies, adding, “Obviously, I am not the right person to answer that question. That’s for sure. And hopefully everybody will respect that.”
The planned job cuts come a week after Arteta signed a new four-year contract with the North London club following a successful campaign that saw Arsenal win their first Premier League title since 2004.
The new deal reportedly includes an increase on his previous annual salary of £10 million, alongside an additional £5 million in bonuses.
The workforce review, which was conducted by an external company, had been underway before Arsenal secured the Premier League title last season.
The decision has also drawn attention to the club’s financial position. Arsenal announced in February that they had generated record revenues of £691 million for the 2024-25 financial year, although the club recorded an overall loss of £1.4 million.
The club’s accounts also showed that operating costs increased significantly to £200.8 million, compared with £147.9 million in the previous financial year.
Despite the financial figures, Arteta maintained that the changes were part of the club’s wider efforts to improve its operations, continue investing and sustain success on the pitch.