It could see the club close the financial gap with Manchester United.
Arsenal are reportedly set to announce their first ever sleeve sponsor this week after negotiating a new deal with their current shirt sponsors Emirates.
The Emirates deal, which was announced yesterday, is worth £200 million over five years and also means the North London club can negotiate additional sleeve sponsorship for the first time in the team’s history, set to amount to an extra £10 million per season.
It is rumoured that the extra funds could be funnelled into record contracts for new players.
Arsenal are targeting a first-ever sleeve sponsor from next year in an attempt to tackle their commercial shortfall compared to other clubs & help fund a series of club-record contracts. [@JWTelegraph] #afc pic.twitter.com/jkhIrNQawF
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) February 18, 2018
The new contract does not, however, allow for a separate training kit sponsor – this will still be Emirates.
Clubs such as Everton, Manchester City and Chelsea have all introduced sleeve sponsors for the first time this season, generating around £8 million in additional revenue.
The new partner is expected to be revealed later this week.
https://twitter.com/ArsenalEdits/status/965602039039516673
It is also expected that the Gunners will part with current kit suppliers Puma after their contract ends at the end of next season.
Adidas appear to be the most likely candidates to take over technical sponsorship, but they will have big shoes to fill judging by some of the leaked designs for next season.