Arsene Wenger believes Arsenal must act responsibly during the summer transfer market.
The Frenchman will have a considerable amount of funds to utilize this summer, and revealed during his pre-match conference that he will look to strengthen areas of his squad with some quality additions.
However, the Gunners chief insists that he will only do business sensibly, and will not be pushed into paying astronomical amounts for new recruits. Wenger told Arsenal.com:
’I think it is the responsibility of a football manager to behave in a responsible way, of course. It is a situation for the fans which I can completely understand. But we are in a job where other clubs do not respect the basic rules of any other company and we have to live with that.’
’You cannot think that if there is not enough money to run the company then someone else [will] come in and give his money. That is not how we want to run the company. Of course, the economic situation is difficult for people and for us as well. But we demand some understanding because we have to fight against clubs which have unlimited resources. They put pressure on our wages. How can we deal with it? They do not live with their natural resources which is why UEFA want to fight for the fair play.’
I do agree with Wenger to an extent. Thanks to the wage structure, that he implemented when he arrived back in 1996, Arsenal have become an incredibly stable club financially, which makes profit as well – something most clubs fail to do.
However, what worries me about Wenger is his strict transfer policies, which looks like it won’t be changing this year.
Granted, there are other teams out there that have unlimited resources, but maybe its time for Wenger and Arsenal to start competing with the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City. Not necessarily paying over the odds for new players, but to start targeting these ‘quality additions’ that Arsenal require.
To be honest with you, I’ve heard this all before. When Wenger says he is going to act responsibly in the transfer market, it usually means that he will sign one established player (not necessarily world-class) and a few young starlets.
We’ve got the money power behind us – regardless of what we have heard or continue to hear – we just need Wenger to go out and spend it!
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I think he is right to say that to a certain degree, especailly for English players. Everyone knows when an English player is on the market, there prices sky rocket. But he still needs to spend on quality players and if he has to pay a bit over the odds for lets say Benzema then he should. I mean I saw in the paper that Man City are planning an 8 million bid for Vertonghen. Wenger could spend 8 million on Vermaelen’s old central partner at Ajax. If that’s not spending responsibly then I don’t know what is.
He also needs to spend the money because fans are fed up of winning nothing every season. Also the ticket prices are going up and up. If they do and we lose key players and Wenger doesn’t replace them, then why should fans renew there tickets if they don’t get a return for there money.
I would ask the writer of this article and all those who want Wenger to pay over the odds if necessary one simple question. Would you pay substantially more for say a new car or a house than it is worth? Of course you wouldn,t, you would probably say to the seller ‘do you think I am stupid mate,do you think I was born yesterday or what’. It is very easy to sit at home and urge someone else to spend money that is not theirs and totally disregard normal good business sense. Also remember it is not Wengers money either, he is responsible for spending sensibly on behalf of the club and supporters, you know the ones from whom the bulk of the money comes. Your money. Furthermore all the armchair big spenders should realise that buying big does not guarantee a title or cup success. past seasons are littered with big spenders who have never won a bean. It just isn’t that simple. If Wenger was reckless with Arsenals money and they still didn’t win anything, possibly putting their finances in a bad way in the proccess, what would all you ‘spend big’ merchants say then. I hate to think. I am as keen as the next bloke to win something but not at any cost. I also think it would be fantastic to win something with a predominately homegrown team. How great would that be in todays climate, a real achievement to be proud of.
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