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Everyone kicks you when you’re down – that’s how it works, right? One minute you’re a legend; grooming the best players the Premier League has ever seen – winning two doubles on the way. The next your youthful team deserts you.
Arsene Wenger: the artist, the philosopher, the best manager the English Premier League has ever seen are complements that have become all the more distance. The sheer delight to be managed by a genius is no longer the divine priority – it’s money.
The game has changed. Players have become fickle, their feet have become more itchy and their price has become inflated. For example, It was clear that Samir Nasri wanted to move to Manchester United to play under, arguably, a manager better than Wenger – a move that I understand. But money, again, became a bargaining chip; Nasri could have waited to next year – but Arsenal knew this wasn’t a viable option because his price would devalue significantly. To add to this, hefty contract negotiations and a promise to buy the league would have drawn Nasri away from another season at Arsenal. We must also remember that this ‘saga’ started because Nasri felt he deserved a contract as large as the departed Cesc Fabregas (believed to be around £100,000 per week)
The same can be said for the transfer or Yaya Toure – a player as natural as you are going to get to replacing Patrick Viera. Arsenal put in a bid, but could they match Manchester City – could they offer him a staggering £240,000 a week? No – again money was the ultimate bargaining chip.
So what now for Wenger. Arsenal have never been a club prepared to adhere to the new Premier League landscape ruled by wasted money. While Chelsea have thrown over £500 million at players since Abramovich took over the club – with almost no RIO (Return on investment). Arsenal have run the club properly – selling their players at the right time.
Chelsea:
1)ADRIAN MUTU – Bought for £16 million – released
2)ANDRiY SHEVCHENKO – Bought for £30 million – sold for £0
DAMIEN DUFF – Bought for 18 million – Sold for £6 million
In fact the only player I can think of who sold for a profit was ARJEN ROBBEN: Bought for £12.1 million and sold for £24 million.
Arsenal on the other hand…
1) PATRICK VIEIRA (bought for £3.5m, sold for £18m)
2) NICOLAS ANELKA (bought for £500,000, sold for £22.3m)
3) EMMANUEL PETIT (bought for £2.5m, sold for £7m)
4) MARC OVERMARS (bought for £5.5m, sold for £25m)
5) THIERRY HENRY (bought for £10m, sold for £20m)
6) SOL CAMPBELL (bought for nothing)
7) KOLO TOURE (bought for £15,000, sold for £16m)
8.) EMMANUEL ADEBAYOR (bought for £7m, sold for £25m)
9) CESC FABREGAS (bought for nothing, sold for £35m)
10) ROBIN VAN PERSIE (bought for £2.75m, valued at £20m-plus)
Arsene Wenger is controlling the Club the right way. He is criticised for not buying ‘World Class’ players, but why should he? Why should he purchase players at inflated prices with inflated wages just because Manchester City and Chelsea have made the game that way?
Excuse the pun, but where does the buck stop? The sport becomes more and more consumed by money and it doesn’t seem to be dwindling just yet. So, dammit, Wenger let’s turn to Sinatra and sing : ‘Some people get their kicks, Stompin’ on a dream, But I don’t let it, let it get me down, ‘Cause this fine ol’ world it keeps spinning around’ THAT’S LIFE….all together now!
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