Wenger has told us that he will do his business ‘sooner rather than later’. But yet, he still refuses to talk about any specific transfer targets.
“Our business will be done sooner rather than later but it is difficult to speak about any individual player because that makes things difficult,
“I cannot complain about other clubs talking about our players and then do the same.”
I rather like what Wenger is saying here. It is quite clearly a swipe at all the Barcelona players that have been chiming up about the Fabregas issue. In my opinion, Wenger is doing the right thing in keeping quiet. Although it may be frustrating for the fans, we know what its like having people from other clubs talking about our players, so surely it would be wrong, as Wenger says, to do the same thing. Furthermore, Wenger really doesn’t need to be talking about the players. As fans, we can speculate all we like, but if Wenger starts talking about specific players, it makes things difficult. If we relate it back to the Fabregas situation again, we can see how it has angered supporters and Wenger alike, so surely to do the same to other clubs is a bad idea. If we are trying to make a deal with another club, the last thing we want to be doing is angering them.
Wenger was, however, probed about Mata and Jagielka. Here’s what he had to say.
“I like the player [Mata], but that does not mean we will buy him. The other player [Jagielka] is under contract at Everton. If we want to buy a player, we need first the agreement of their club.
“At the moment the rules are constructed in a way where it is basically forbidden to speak about one individual player. I know that not everybody respects it, but I try to do as well as I can.”
It is clear that Wenger is doing his best to keep quiet about other players, and he is being very professional.
Wenger then went on to discuss why transfers have hit a standstill for Arsenal.
“At the moment you have two categories of movement, one from zero to 10 million, and one from 30 to 50 million. We are in between,
“In between nothing happens at the moment, there has been very little movement. All over Europe our industry is basically in a very bad financial situation. All the clubs who live from the money which football generates do not buy.
“The only clubs who buy at the moment in Europe are ones who buy with money which is not generated by our industry. There are two categories of club – those who travel with sweat and those who travel with petrol. We are those who travel with sweat.”
Here Wenger seems to be distinguishing between clubs like Man City, and clubs like Arsenal. Clubs like City can buy with money that has been gifted to them by an owner. We do not have that luxury. We have to make do with the money we generate from our business model. But there is something else worth noting in what Wenger is saying. He says that we are in between 10 million and 30 million. This is encouraging. This means that Wenger is actually prepared to spend above £10 million. This definitely opens up the possibility of transfers such as Mata, Benzema, Samba and Jagielka. Of course Wenger will not buy all 4, but the fact that he has stated that he will spend in the region of 10 to 30 million is encouraging.
