Keith Edelman, the Arsenal managing director, backed up his claim that the Barclays Premier League leaders had no need for a wealthy owner by revealing that the club had built up a cash pot of £73.9 million on the back of their record annual turnover.

Edelman said that the move to the Emirates Stadium had put the club in a strong position to become self-sufficient without impinging on their ability to buy the right players. “We fundamentally believe the football club must be run for the long term from the cash resources which you drive out of the business,” Edelman said. “There is a view that you need a wealthy benefactor to chuck lots of money at it. We fundamentally disagree with that logic. They may make an up-front investment in the short term, but in the long run they are going to want to run it as a business and see a return on it.”

Arsenal reported a 46 per cent jump in turnover to £200.8 million in the financial year to the end of May, allowing the club to leapfrog Manchester United – at least temporarily - and Chelsea and putting them behind only Real Madrid in the world league table. However, pretax profits fell from £15.9 million to £5.6 million after they were forced to swallow a one-off charge of £21 million from refinancing the £260 million loan taken out to fund the new stadium. The move reduced the annual cost of servicing the loan from £32 million to £20 million.

Broadcasting revenues fell from £54.9 million to £44.3 million because of the club’s exit from the Champions League, in the first knockout round. Payroll costs increased from £83 million to £89.7 million, but retail and commercial revenues rose.

Peter Hill-Wood, the Arsenal chairman, told shareholders not to expect future results to deliver “growing profits and ever-increasing cash balances” because the club had a “clear objective of making available the maximum possible funds for the development of the squad”.

Piling on the pounds

£200.8mTotal turnover for Arsenal Holdings, property and football business

£177m For football alone

£3.1m Income from each match

41,000 Waiting list for season tickets at the Emirates Stadium

968,000 Match-day programmes sold last season