Arsene Wenger fears his young Arsenal team are in danger of
breaking up after it emerged that Emmanuel Adebayor has demanded
£80,000 a week to stay at the club.
The 24-year-old striker signed a new contract last summer worth
a weekly £35,000, but he has told Wenger he wants to be paid in
line with the top players in the Barclays Premier League.
The manager fears a salary and transfer explosion this summer,
with Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool expected to spend
upwards of £50m each on top-class signings.
Despite claiming he can compete with United and Chelsea on the
field over the next few years, Wenger has privately expressed fears
that Arsenal will soon be too far behind the top teams in financial
terms.
Mathieu Flamini became the first to walk out when he agreed a
move to AC Milan earlier in the week, turning down Arsenal's
£55,000-a-week offer, and it is feared others may follow.
Alexander Hleb is determined to move to Inter Milan in the
summer and Jens Lehmann has played his last game.
Adebayor, after suffering an initial knockback, is expected to
make more noises following Sunday's final game of the season at
Sunderland.
His agent Stephane Courbis said: 'Now is not the time to talk
about his contract. We'll wait until next week.'
Hleb's agent Nikolai Shpilevski said last night: 'Alexander is
preparing to make one of the most important moves of his life. He
is leaving Arsenal even though they want to offer him a new
long-term contract and better conditions. There's no way back
now.'
Wenger claimed his current team could eclipse the 2004
'Invincibles', but Arsenal are falling behind the top clubs in
Europe in terms of transfer fees and salaries.
Despite claims from former chief executive Keith Edelman that
the manager has a pot of gold at his disposal, it is thought
Wenger's hands are tied in the transfer market, largely due to the
crippling cost of their two-yearold Emirates Stadium.
All that could be solved if the club were to accept the help of
Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, but chairman Peter Hill-Wood
and director Danny Fiszman say no.
Arsenal, along with Chelsea, have been offered the chance to
sign Thierry Henry, but Wenger has turned down the opportunity.
Henry was deemed a 'special case' when he signed a contract
worth £130,000 a week at the Emirates in the aftermath of the
defeat in the 2006 Champions League final, but Arsenal are no
longer in a position to pay that kind of figure.
Chelsea, who bid £50m for Henry when Roman Abramovich arrived in
English football, also considered taking him back from Barcelona
but have decided against it.
He should go and suck a horse
dick
