Arsenal’s chief executive Ivan Gazidis recently defended the club’s transfer policy, after a majority of fans were desperate to see Arsene Wenger splash out on world-class names during the summer transfer window, claiming the Gunners are the financial future of world football.
Arsenal have got off to a disastrous start to the new Premier League campaign after seeing Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri leave and being replaced by Mikel Arteta and Yossi Benayoun, who did not appear to appease the majority of the club’s fans. However, Gazidis believes Arsenal will never spend beyond their means to achieve instant success and is adamant that the north London club will prosper long-term, despite not winning a trophy in 6 years.
Gazidis told talkSPORT:
‘If we continue to see a cycle of constant spending, we will get an environment where it will be difficult to be an owner of a club unless you’re a multi-billionaire who’s prepared to pump hundreds of millions of pounds into the club – and there are not many of those in the world.’
‘You then become left with most clubs being in a very unstable and damaging position and that’s not good for fans or football.’
‘People who care about the game need to think about these issues and we think they are.’
‘UEFA have recognized this and clubs across Europe are looking to get towards a more sustainable and responsible future.’
‘That’s somewhere Arsenal already are and I believe we represent the future of the game.’
‘We will continue to be focused on a path that will deliver not just success over one year but consistent success over a long period of time for this club, and we have been incredibly successful at doing that.’
‘Everything this club has created and represents it has done itself and didn’t rely on anyone else.’
‘It stands on its own two feet as a responsible self-sustaining model that represents the future of football and we’re proud of that.’
‘Other clubs are trying to get to a position of self-sustainability, even the big spenders, and if you’re a responsible thinker about football you have to think about where the game is going.’
Yes very laudable but we support the football team not the management team, the accountant or the admin team. If its all built on financial sustainability and if Fab (as Gazidis said) is one of the best midfielders in the world why didnt we sell him for more than £35m?
Yes Steve, we have seen how people like you ‘support’ a club!!! Ask yourself this , would you support a club if it went down like Portsmouth??
I support the team, I like seeing them win games Im not into supporting fiscal policies (like ours) or expansionist policies like man city. The mismanagement through the summer meant that the likes of Jenkinsons development has been set back by the need for him to play against man u. What im saying is concentrate on the football and not on economic policies. I do understand the need for sustainability but not when its an excuse for mismanagement.
If U support a team, everything follow including backroom.