Table-toppers Arsenal heaped the pressure on North London rivals Tottenham and their manager Martin Jol yesterday with a 3-1 win at White Hart Lane. And it is likely to get worse for Spurs fans and their board this week when the Gunners also outstrip them off the field.
For the Gunners, it was an excellent start to a week that will see them announce financial figures that place them above Manchester United and Chelsea — let alone Spurs — and behind only Real Madrid in the list of the world's richest clubs.
Arsenal's total turnover of all the business the club generate, it will be revealed, has shot up to about £180m,about £22m behind Real Madrid, while United's turnover stands at £167m. That is an increase of almost 50 per cent in just one season, such has been the effect of moving to the Emirates Stadium.
No wonder their currently buoyant board of directors, who believe that they can even surpass Real financially next season, can rebuff potential investors.
