FILE: Mikel Arteta | Arsenal website
Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, says the club’s decision to cut up to 60 jobs was made to improve operations and achieve greater success.
The Gunners are set to reduce their workforce by up to seven per cent of their 871 permanent staff, following an internal review of the club’s operations.
Arsenal chief executive, Richard Garlick, informed staff of the decision this week, with the job cuts expected to affect several departments. However, coaching and performance staff in both the men’s and women’s teams will be unaffected.
Jobs within the Arsenal Foundation, Arsenal in the Community and the club’s security department are also excluded from the planned redundancies.
As reported by BBC Sport on Friday, speaking at a news conference ahead of Arsenal’s Premier League trip to Nottingham Forest on Sunday, Arteta initially declined to comment in detail on the decision, saying, “This question is not for me.”
However, the Spaniard later explained that the club’s decision was aimed at improving its structure and ensuring it could achieve its long-term ambitions.
“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.
“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.