View From The Sphere

Do Arsenal really need to spend ‘£200M to stay in the top four’?

|

Arsene WengerA lot of limelight has been shone on Arsenal lately, with fans, pundits and even ex-players having their say on the current squad and Arsene Wenger’s future.

Ian Wright, however, has been one of the most vocal in the last few days.

This is what the former Gunners striker had to say on Absolute Radio’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Football Show after the 2-1 win over Aston Villa at The Emirates yesterday:

‘£70m is not enough! If Arsenal are going to stay in the top four they are going to need £200m or so to really compete and attract the right players.’

This is the same man who has been campaigning for Wenger to be sacked, and I guess he will have a lot more to say between now and the end of the summer.

On player sales, Wright said:

‘Players leave the club, it’s the nature of football, Thierry [Henry] left, [Samir] Nasri left, Robin left but Wenger needs to replenish the squad in the right way and he’s just not doing it at the moment. £70m isn’t enough.’

He added:

‘Arsenal can’t be in the market for £15 million players, they need to add a few world class £30 million plus players to start competing again.’

I tend to agree with him, but saying that we need to splash out £200 million in order to stay in the top four is a little bit over the top. £100 million should be enough to strengthen our side over the summer.

Visit and Join our Facebook page, click HERE to do so.

Gunnersphere is currently looking for new writers to join the squad. Contact via twitter or at Gunnersphere@snack-media.com for further details.

Share this article

46 comments

  • NW says:

    I tend to agree thta 4 more players will do and judging from the cost of today, thats about anywhere from 60million to 100 million. (15 to 25 M on average). If they can set aside 70 M, that can pretty much do the work provided that they make the team work together.

    Back four aside, the mid and front are excellent to good individually but they never really deliver. We expect the front to be a bit shaky because Giroud and Poldolski are both new and numbers show that Giroud does not have a good goal to chance ratio but he is someone to deal with physical teams which he does ok. Polodolski is clinical but not creative winger. Walcott isn’t a creative winger and aren’t reliable neither. This front only works with proper support and that should come from the mid.

    This midfield should dominate most of the games but they rarely do which is puzzling; then there’s the back four which are at least descent players from their experience and quality but perform hopelessly.

    If this team works out, FA + 2 or 3 in EPL should be the right result.

    And trying to win every trophy is stupid. This is exactly what AW thought when he did no bring in the major players half time of the match.

  • g clarke says:

    Utter rubbish

  • afc says:

    I think I see Ian wright’s point. We do need to buy players around the 30 million mark or they would not be much of an improvement of the current players we have. The 70 million will probably rise with player sales, but I think Wenger needs around 150 million. I think the 70 million allocated to Wenger includes player wages, if so 70 million will not go far.

  • Happy umukoro says:

    Wanger doesn’t need such amount of money 2 transform Arsenal but I think 100M is enough 2 sign 5 quality players d club needed. It is not waisting huge amount of money on player who will not make any impact. E.g Torres.

  • GSM says:

    Arsenal can spend £200m but it won’t make any difference. It’s a change of mentality that’s needed at the club. Either the manager should change his ways or be replaced. There are too many players in the comfort zone at Arsenal and any new signings will fall in to the same trap. The manager has to take the blame for making certain players believe they are better than what they are. Put simply, if you walked in to work tomorrow and your boss doubled your wages for doing the same work and performing at the same level, you’d happily take it. This is what has happened at Arsenal. This is the reason that WE see no desire and hunger in the performances and this is the reason that we are now happy with 4th place!

    • chris from Cambridge says:

      Plus Wenger has nil clue about tactics … ie. less than any team Manager in EPL. He has weighed the team down for too long with his personal crusade.

      • Oguntuase Amos says:

        Yet with little resources he has kept the team in the top end of the EPL. I think you are the one who is intellectually unsound otherwise you would never say that Wenger knows nothing about tactics. You are the untrained and unproven expert who knows more everybody. Pls stop displaying your ignorance.

  • MkeF says:

    So what your saying is your happy with top 4?
    Typical attitude that got us in this mess. There is NO reason Arsenal can not be top again and soon. Sure at the moment Man City is spending big and getting top players as did Chelsea before BUT in the end it is the money alone that attracts players to City hell they last won a title in 1967/68 so they are hardly a dream club of any player just their agent’s who dream of one thing Money.

    I think Arsneal Does need to spend more when the player they want and REALLY need is also being targeted by the big spenders it is the sad reality of the sport at the moment but really if you look at CLUB value and Revenue Arsenal and Liverpool are SITLL in better shape then City because as quick as that money was injected into that club it can also be taken away unless they also get the club’s budget within it’s Revenue they are not sustainable.

    I suppose that is the end goal as City had a much bigger mountain to climb then Chelsea did as they had nothing the last title they won was in 1967/68 and the club historically has always been way behind their City Rivals. SO they had to spend big because if Manchester is on a players target ManU is going to be first choice. In fact If Playing in the EPL is a player’s goal take away the stupid money City is spending and they could not get anyone to sign with them based on club history.

    Arsenal is in a good position it is one of the most successful clubs in England Behind ManU and Liverpool so it is NOT in ManCities position in that it HAS to splash cash alone to get a player to want to play for them but they do unfortunately need to be in the ball park when it comes to the VERY Best players. Except for a few REALLY top players at City most of their players are OVER paid and do not deserve the money they are getting. I really do not care if Gaël Clichy and Nasri want to get paid more then they are worth If city wants them we can find plenty of payers just as good but if Arsenal wanted to get Yaya Toure then spend what ever it takes. And we should have done what ever it took to KEEP RVP. AND Cesc Fabergas.

    But their were 3 players Arsenal had and I think never really recovered from they where Vieira, Bergkamp and Henry. Yaya could have replaced Vieira but who really could replace Henry? or Bergkamp? (well RVP when fit was close)

    If Neymar was thinking of coming to England (which he is not he has one target and that is Spain at RM or barca.) I would say OK get in a bidding war with city is justified. But what most of their players make is just Stupid.

    Arsenal Does need to spend but their is NO reason to compete like City for Every player on the market. We need to spend Smart only pay big for big players NOT big heads .

  • Jeff says:

    Most importantly, Arsene must get rid of all the rubbish players in the squad first, then think about their replacements. This would help him to reduce the amount of wages and bring in top quality.

    • chris from Cambridge says:

      Of course but because of Wenger’s failed and absurd ‘ flat wage structure ‘ these players won’t go !!

      • Oguntuase Amos says:

        A team is a squad not few players with fantastic salaries. How can a player earn £200,000 per week? What is he playing and another on £20,000 on the same field? No, this is absurd and unjust since all players are exposed to same risk and one must complement the other. Players must not be overpaid, it is ruining football and also none must be underemunetated for harmony to reign. See the personality clashes on parade at Real, Chelsea and Zenit St Petetsburg. Mutiny among players is only avoided by realistic wage structure, Messi or Ronaldo alone cannot do the job of eleven players, though they can imfluence the outcome of a match.

  • john says:

    We need 300 million spent, not car foot sale, where wenger shops

  • ivorstephens says:

    There is a lot of room for manouevre in our current squad.For instance getting shot of Arshavin and santos would free up about 150 k a week in wages.Wright is always looking to put the boot in as wenger bombed him out quickstyle.You ever hear dixon keown winterburn or viera rounding on arsene?Anyway two or three
    new faces in the summer and well be fine

    • chris from Cambridge says:

      There is little room for manouevre where such players – and others – have been given big contracts and are detemined to sit tight until that contract runs down. It has been costing us huge and will take still more years to wash out. Well done Wenger fans … and don’t blame the Board … that was to abide by Wenger’s wishes – nobody else.

      • Oguntuase Amos says:

        Possibly you would be happy if you are sent away prematurely from your present job. In every organization, you will always see some underperformers. Why dont you pry into the wage bill of Chelsea, Man U, City and Liverpool to discover huge wastages they live with? If they are better, you can them blame Wenger and Arsenal.

  • John B says:

    Ian is Wright,Wright,Wright !

    • Oguntuase Amos says:

      Ian is wrong and jealous. A man who could not influence his step son to sign for Arsenal should not be taken seriously.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *