Arsenal forward Andrey Arshavin has backed pleas by the
club's supporters for manager Arsene Wenger to sign experienced
players in the summer.
The Frenchman has built a reputation in North London for
recruiting talented - predominantly foreign - youngsters for small
transfer fees and moulding them into superstars.
However, the former Monaco and Grampus Eight chief is now
beginning to receive criticism for his transfer policy, with the
Emirates Stadium outfit now without a trophy in four seasons since
their 2005 FA Cup triumph.
Arshavin - at 27-years-old and signed for £15 million - is a
rare exception to Wenger's rule, with the diminutive playmaker
arriving from Zenit St Petersburg in February and making an
explosive start to his Premier League career, netting six goals in
11 league outings.
And the Russian international believes his new club should opt
for experience over youth in the summer, to compliment the armoury
of highly-rated youngsters already at the club.
"We must buy in the summer. Not more potential, but players who
are ready to do it now, players like me," he said in the Daily
Mail.
"We need two or three. If Arsenal want to win, they have to do
it. We are tired of waiting.
"I believe that out of the top four English teams, when it comes
to football, Arsenal are the best.
"They have the best style and the best coach. At the moment,
young players come to Arsenal because they see it as a very big
team, but if we carry on like this without winning trophies, young
players will not want to come.
"Everyone likes the appeal of Arsenal, the football of Arsenal,
the young players of Arsenal, but if there is no result they will
stop."
