Arsenal thriving on and off the pitch

London: Arsenal is thriving on and off the pitch again. Reversing the trend of slow starts in recent seasons, the Gunners are top of the Premier League after winning four of their five games.

And another set of healthy annual financial results were published on Monday, with fans having been appeased this month by owner Stan Kroenke dipping into the cash reserves and spending 50 million euros ($66 million) on signing Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid.

Arsenal says on May 31 - before the club-record Ozil signing - it had cash reserves of 153 million pounds ($246 million). Turnover in the 2012-13 financial year rose to 243 million pounds ($390 million), although pre-tax profits dropped to 6.7 million pounds ($11 million).