Is Arsene ready to splurge?
Arsenal
chief executive Ivan Gazidis declared this morning that the north London club have
the financial muscle to afford top players on big contracts should Arsene
Wenger see fit to splash the cash this summer.
Revered
manager Wenger recently admitted that he wouldn’t say ‘no’ should Manchester
United forward Wayne Rooney become available and Gazidis’ comments suggest the
England man’s £200,000-plus per week contract would no longer present a
problem.
With
The Gunners beginning to feel the
benefits of their stadium move and being heavily-backed by the Emirates
airline, they appear to be sailing into the new age of the FIFA Financial Fair Play
rules seamlessly, while other Premier League outfits try frantically to find
ways of fitting into the new regulations.
Several
Arsenal officials pronounced it would take a few years to find their feet after
leaving Highbury and apparently the powerbrokers at the club feel the time is
right to push the boat out in a clear attempt to overhaul the recent domestic supremacy
of Chelsea and the Manchester clubs to put Wenger’s men back in contention for
top honours after eight long years without silverware.
Further
speculation mounted overnight regarding Arsenal’s interest in Everton attacking
midfielder Marouane Fellaini. Reports suggest The Gunners are ready to match the buy-out clause in Fellaini’s
contract, reputedly between £22-£24m. If Wenger pulls off such a coup it’d finally
provide Arsenal with the midfield enforcer they’ve missed since the defection
of Patrick Vieira to Juventus in 2005, immediately following his lifting of the
last trophy that Arsenal won.
Famed
for their rigid pay structure, the Londoners are set to throw off the shackles
surrounding their reluctance to hand out large contracts and delve into the
transfer market at the very upper reaches of players who could be available
during this window.
Long-serving
boss Wenger has always promoted youth over experience, choosing to sign youngsters
with potential that he could develop. During the glory years of the late nineties
and early noughties, the Frenchman got the balance spot on between older heads
and talented kids. However, due to his usual refusal to pay out large sums
of money for established big-name stars, the golden generation have moved on to
be replaced by a set of players who haven’t yet matured into the footballers
they’re required to be if they’re going to help Arsenal compete.
Undoubtedly,
Gazidis will see this as the perfect opportunity for his board and manager to
make up for lost time by signing the top-level players needed at the Emirates
and to challenge for the league championship once again; The Gunners will never get a better chance to gain ground on their
title rivals than this.
Twitter: @daveh1980
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