Josh Kroenke remarks on £134m deal speaks volumes about his off-pitch Arsenal masterplan

Arsenal co-chairman Josh Kroenke is certainly in the driving seat when it comes to dictating strategy at the Emirates these days.

The 44-year-old appears to have taken on responsibility for the day-to-day running of the club from his father and club owner Stan Kroenke.

The Missouri-born operator will have to spin a lot of plates in the coming months and years in what will be a turbulent era for Arsenal and every other big club in English football.

They will need to navigate the introduction of an independent regulator for English football and, significantly, a new paradigm in terms of financial fair play, or FFP (now Profit and Sustainability Rules, or PSR).

UEFA is currently phasing in a new squad cost control ratio system, while the Premier League will trial a similar model from next season.

And Kroenke‘s latest public remarks about developments elsewhere in the KSE empire signal how he plans to adapt to the new era.

Josh Kroenke’s Denver Nuggets remarks give clue to Arsenal PSR strategy

The KSE empire includes eight sports teams in total, including NBA side the Denver Nuggets, where Josh Kroenke also takes a prominent role.

As relayed bySports Illustrated, Kroenke has been talking about how the Nuggets have been forced to adapt to the new £134m salary cap and collective bargaining agreement (CBA) in the NBA.

“The core of this team was assembled under a different CBA,” he said.

“We drafted, we developed, and we built this team under a different set of rules. Those rules have kind of changed on the fly.

“Last summer, it wasn’t quite as pertinent as it is going to be this summer, coming off of a championship and some of our contractual situations last summer.

“But we’re going to put our heads together and figure out how we can keep improving. We have the best player in the world. We think we still have the best starting five in basketball.

“But there is going to be some constraints coming in with the new collective bargaining agreement and the new rules that we’re going to have to be very aware of and we have to plan accordingly.

“They do make it difficult to re-tool a championship roster on the fly.”

How will Arsenal comply with FFP?

If Kroenke’s remarks, which suggest a fair bit of frustration at the new NBA system, are to be taken as any indication, Arsenal will be revaluating their entire financial approach to align with the new FFP system.

Like the Nuggets, they have built a stellar squad and they will use this as a platform to continue in perhaps a slightly more sustainable way going forward, in terms of recruitment and retention.

Diligence appears to be the watchword here while maintaining sporting performance.

The last thing Arsenal need at a time of resurgence is to be hamstrung by the kind of off-pitch issues that are plaguing the likes of Man City, Chelsea and Everton among others.

Arsenal have sustained losses of almost £200m over the last three seasons, which is the period over which PSR is assessed.

Covid add-backs and other PSR-deductible costs will see them fall within the £105m allowable losses threshold, but they may need to be more restrained as they move into a new FFP environment.