Soccer
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has warned the football community against the likes of big-spending clubs like Chelsea, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain. The legendary Frenchman believes such clubs will destroy the balance of the football world.
Arsene Wenger is just about to welcome Santi Cazorla to Arsenal. The winger will complete a £16 million transfer move from Malaga to Arsenal this week. This transfer will take Arsenal to a £39 million spending-spree this summer.
To be fair this is the most Arsenal has spent in years and it’s about time Arsene Wenger brings in some players that haven’t graduated from Arsenal’s youth academy. Moreover, Arsenal is the most profitable club in England, which means they have the right to spend the largest amount of money in summer transfer windows.
“We consider ourselves in a privileged position because we have a massive income,” Arsene Wenger told reporters from the Sun. “But overall we are not mega-rich because we do not [have] unlimited resources.
“A club can buy players like PSG has done or Manchester City or Chelsea, with unlimited resources, but overall football suffers. Look at the activity on the transfer market since the start of the summer. PSG are ambitious and they have resources and that's it. We talk always about the same things. I don't think anything is new in that domain.
“Europe at the moment is like the Titanic but we live in football like nothing matters. More than ever we have to run our club in a strict way because it looks like everybody suffers in Europe. I would be surprised if football is not touched by it at some stage. If you look at debt in football across Europe at the moment it is quite massive and we have to be responsible.
“We have to be ambitious but also make sure we are not getting in trouble financially. It is difficult for us because the wages in some other clubs are very high. But of course our players quite rightly compare themselves to the players of the other clubs.”
Chelsea has spent the biggest expenditure this summer. In spite of their big signings, Arsene Wenger believes English Premier League will remain the same next season; and by that he means competitive. Arsene Wenger gave example of Chelsea’s Champions League success as proof of how “competitive” the English Premier League has become.
“I don't see what it could change. Maybe it will wake up the appetite of [Roman] Abramovich again. I'm proud when any Premier League club wins the Champions League,” Arsene Wenger said.
“It shows how competitive the Premier League is because Chelsea finished fifth in the Premier League and that is the real quality of a team. More than the Champions League it is about where you finish in the league. That just shows how good the Premier League is.”
