LONDON, May 10: Arsenal may have struggled in fourth place in the Premiership but their exploits in Europe allowed them to top the earnings league for the English top flight.

Arsene Wenger's side, who will play in the Champions League final against Barcelona next week, earned 52.7 million pounds in prize money and TV cash from all competitions, well above their rivals Chelsea (47.5m), Liverpool (43.2m) and Manchester United (39.9m).

Almost half Arsenal's income came from the Champions League and a win over Barcelona would boost their haul by around two million pounds.

Spurs, the highest-placed club not involved in the Champions League, earned 26.2 million pounds.

Henk Potts, a football finance analyst with Barclays stockbrokers, said:

“The Champions League is the cash cow of modern football and it is so important to the leading clubs to be part of it.

“It is not just the TV and prize money, though that is very lucrative in itself, but it is vital in terms of a club's profile, merchandising and desirability for sponsors.”

Arsenal's earnings are set to expand further next season when the club moves to a new 60,000-capacity stadium.

Their recently-vacated ground, Highbury, has a safety-linked limit of just under 38,000, seriously reducing Arsenal's ability to generate match-day profits in comparision with clubs like Manchester United.

In the longer term, the outlook for the finances of top Premiership clubs looks healthy with a TV deal for 2007-10 set to increase revenues from broadcasters by 65 percent in comparison with the current agreement.—AFP