Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger must now spend some money, or provide some answers
By Rob Kelly Last updated: July 29th, 2009
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sport/robk ... e-answers/

Another week, another high-profile departure from Arsenal - at this rate the club will have sold off the tea lady and ball boys come August 15. The revolving door at the Emirates must be hanging off its hinges by now such is the alacrity of this summer’s departures, and with Emmanuel Eboue set to follow Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure out of north London next week, the Arsenal squad is suddenly looking weaker than at any other point in Arsene Wenger’s reign.

The Emirates bloodletting must stop. Enough is enough. Wenger must either spend some of the £50m that is coming Arsenal’s way or announce that the club’s well of money has run dry. No more talk about the potential of his young squad. Some have potential, while some - such as Abou Diaby - simply cannot cut it. The fans want signings and if they do not get them, they deserve answers.

As with the Adebayor transfer, I think Wenger has done good business by selling Toure. The Ivorian has been a magnificent servant to the club, and he will missed by many supporters, but in truth his best years are behind him. It will be a sad day for many Arsenal fans to see the last member of the Invincibles of 2003-04 leave, but with one year left on his contract, £14million represents a good price for a player that will miss around a month of the season when he departs for the Africa Cup of Nations in January.

However, Wenger’s intimation that he has enough defenders to cushion the loss of Toure is farcical. He may have enough defenders, but certainly not top-quality defenders. Beyond William Gallas - who is unlikely to extend his deal when it expires next summer - who is there? Thomas Vermaelen is unproven in the Premier League, Wenger is open to offers for Phillipe Senderos, Johan Djourou has potential but needs more time, Alex Song is a defensive midfielder and Mikael Silvestre is just dreadful.

Wenger must know he has to invest in a commanding centre-half. The Arsenal manager has never fully replaced Sol Campbell and must now bring in an experienced, proven defender, one who can bring leadership to the backline. The Frenchman must also address the glaring lack of a world-class defensive midfielder in his squad, too.

Unless the club’s finances are much more parlous than previously thought, the money should be there to make the two additions that would significantly strengthen the team. They only need two, top-quality additions to become a real force again and Wenger will surely appreciate that.

Arsenal fans have been patient with the Frenchman in recent years, despite the conspicuous lack of success, aware that he is working within a tight budget with serious constraints. But if the money that he has banked this summer is not being made available to him, then he should admit it. There is no need to protect the board anymore, especially when it is Wenger who will bear the brunt of the fans’ ire if things go wrong.

I would hate to see Wenger made the fall guy by supporters if he does not sign anyone and Arsenal start the season poorly, all because he is too principled to reveal the full extent of the contraints placed upon him. He must come out all guns blazing, either in the transfer market or in explanation of the club’s fiscal position. After all he has done for the club, the Frenchman must not be allowed to fall on his sword just to protect those above him.

Nice piece by Rob Kelly, fair and informed and he clearly recognises that Wenger may be in the position where he is carrying the can to protect the club some what and as Rob suggests that's not fair. I suspect Wenger does have the £40m to spend and maybe more considering that our budget could well have been more than £10m paid for Vermealen. The one point I didn't agree on was the strength of squad, he recognises we only need two players but suggests we are weaker than ever. We're certainly not weaker in defence than last season but are we sufficiently stronger?

Give the man a chance, Toure only left today.

Sorry Corn Dog I can't agree with you that it was a fair and informed article, sounded more like sensationlist speculation.

So far its 2 out and 1 in, hardly just the tea lady to go is it?

As Sloppy says Toure only left a couple of hours ago. We have been busy on our pre season tour and now we are returning home I expect to see 3 signings made before the transfer window closes, hopefully before the season starts.

Are we suggesting that Wenger couldnt have done more to keep our players?
To be honest, I am absolutely furious with Kolo's departure, if not more so with Ade. i did not care what the boo boys thought of ade, and i believe Wenger should have done much much more to keep him, though his wage demands had concerned me. If wenger goes on to sell eboue, i will go ballistic.
The board clearly see the club as a cash cow to be financially milked to its last drop, or possibly till it drops dead. however, for me the club is more than a corporate entity or else if i wanted to support a corporation then what stops me from buying and pulling on a Microsoft t-shirt , then walk and stand outside their HQ and start singing songs about them.
one of this fine days i will start calling for wenger's head, he is not immune, yet i would hate a leeds united type situation to happen to my beloved club, if this is not moral dilemma, i dont know what is.

I have to concur with corny on this one. I don't think the writer necessarily expects us to have already made signings merely that now we have a significantly increased war chest we must ensure that replacements are found shortly.

For me it's a real blow to lose Toure. It's not quantity, it's quality that counts and Kolo added a huge amount of value to the squad not only with his power, tenacity and experience but also because he was a palyer who could do a decent job in a number of positions. I still harboured hopes he could fill the "flamini role"! We are hugely weaker as a squad with Djourou now our most likely starter after Billy and Vermaelen. I like djourou but can you honestly say he isn't worse than Kolo??

Added to that, buying another central defender after the purchase of Vermaelen seems like a headache Wenger would surely wanted to have avoided when (I would hope) his priorities had turned to signing a defensive midfielder, the position which we have failed to fill for too long??! Now we need to find both.

All I can hope is that Arsene has some kind of master plan to spend the wad we've accumulated on a player (or two) who previously would have been beyond our financial reach. Quite who that would be I don't know.

I pray for one more major signing this summer and I'm afraid that's all we'll see.

How do you know that Wenger did not do all he could to keep Ade, like he did last season ? Maybe Ade just wanted out and that was that. Or maybe Wenger just felt that the time was right to sell a striker who had not maintained his form from the previous season.



I do not understand this comment. Surely if the board saw Arsenal as a cash cow then they would have sold their shares at an inflated price to Usmanov. The board have put in place a financial plan that is self sustaining, they do not actually get the transfer fee straight into their own pockets. Part of it will pay debts and part of it will be available for transfers. Don't forget that we also signed Arshavin in January so that would bring our total spend to £25m on two transfers. We have sold players to the tune of £40m,which is a difference of £15m.

It's been roughly two and a half hours since Kolo Toure departed us and some of the reactions I've read so far have been quite extreme and very over the top (not just here). Wait until the 1st September to judge Arsene that when we will know for sure what direction we will be taking, will we be looking to challenge for top spot or are we just looking to qualify for the CL. I will wait until then to make my own judgement.

The same thing happens every season, the pesimists all come out over summer, we win our first few games and they all go quiet.

If we win our first few games they'll turn around and tell us we'll win the title..........probably

To be fair, I think it’s hard to have a go at people for reacting to the recent departures, however impetuous it may seem. After all it’s simply people reacting to the actions of the club that we care about massively, and most of the time that means that rational thought can go out the window.

I must admit that part of me is worried by the coming season and the recent activities as well, but on the other hand these changes open the door for new personnel coming in and improving the squad, which has to be seen with a certain amount of excitement.

There is still time remaining for incoming players to be signed, and knowing the departures in advance instead of being left short by a late departure is surely preferable. As the Zen master says “We’ll see”!

This guy is correct. And Wenger has to reinforce simple as. Given Eduardo's comments today even his own players are doubting that we can win anything with this team. That is the most damning thing of all. And whilst we all hope a couple of world class players come in, we also all know that Wenger is also just as likely to not reinforce and I think that latter point is the one that is causing so much negativity before a ball is even kicked. We were nowhere last season, have sold two more first team players and not reinforced weakened area's. How the hell are we supposed to be stronger next season?

Just wish it were the other way round i.e. new players come in then the old ones go out.

It's the waiting game that get's me.

As is does me. I still think we will make two major signings this summer but even though I know it will probably only happen late next week at the earliest I am still on News Now every 30 minutes hoping to see "Breaking News ............ Arsenal sign monster midfielder"

Same here, I always end up worrying we will get bogged down on a deal and end up getting nobody due to it or we have another bad run like we did with our dm targets last summer.

He's pretty much spot on although he is stretching it a little with the "exodus" remark, but there is no doubt he is correct that we have regressed strength wise.
What intrigues me is the comment about whether he should spill the beans so to speak, why should he shield the board when he is the one who will be the brunt of the fans anger should it be that his hands are tied by them. On the other hand, if he starts saying we need this player or that player then maybe it sends the wrong message to those he does have (regardless of what our own individual opinions are of them), it is indeed an interesting conundrum, and one that in some respects he is in a no win position.
What really frustrates me is that why is it we always wait until the last few minutes of a transfer window before we get deals sorted, it is clear who we need, and the reality is that it probably was at the end of the season, why can't those people we need be brought in so they can hit the ground running on the opening day. Sure the window is open until end of August, but why wait, a stuttering or poor start could have already been made by then and its almost like you're playing catch up from the very start.
Some answers would be nice.