Everton chief Elstone explains where Arteta money went

Everton chief Robert Elstone has explained where the £10 million raised from Mikel Arteta's sale to Arsenal ended up.

Elstone’s blog explained where every penny Everton have spent and received since 2006 has been used, in an attempt to quell the criticism the club have received from fans’ groups – chairman Bill Kenwright was confronted by a small group before last week’s FA Cup tie with Tamworth.

"The bank didn’t force the sale (of Arteta)," said Elstone in a blog for evertonfc.com. "The £10m instantly became £9m when we paid sell-on fees to Real Sociedad.

"Sadly, and despite a lot of hard work, £9m could become £7.5m by the end of the year with gate revenues dropping below budget (made even sadder by rumours of the sabotage of ticket sales, programmes and other matchday income).

"And £7.5m may well become £5.5m as our live TV appearances drop below the budget we set based on previous seasons’ appearances."