Arsene Wenger has defended his tight grip on the Arsenal purse
strings by declaring: "We don't sign superstars, we make
them".
If Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov is successful during the
looming power struggle at the Emirates, Wenger could be armed with
the spending power to rival even Chelsea.
But the Frenchman insists that whoever triumphs in the boardroom,
he will continue pursuing his policy of signing promising talent
and turning them into big names.
Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Nicolas Anelka and latterly Cesc
Fabregas are the pick of the players who arrived in north London as
relative unknowns before developing into world-class players under
the Arsenal boss.
And as Wenger is adamant that recruiting established stars does not
represent value for money, he will continue to prize potential over
experience.
"I'm not scared to spend big money. If there is a player that I
feel we need then of course I will buy him," he said.
"But at Arsenal we make the superstars. If you find a special
player then fine but I have not seen a number of what you might
call world-class players available.
"Maybe some have a world-class price, but they are not all
world-class players. If you sit down and give me £30million to buy
one, could we find one?
"For £30million I will be told 'sorry he is not available and you
can not have him for that price'.
"Chelsea maybe tried to sign Ronaldinho and they have more money
than anyone in the world, but he has not joined them.
"For me, for £60million a guy must take the ball at the kick-off
and score every time he touches the ball.
"The highest we have ever bid for a player was £15milllion for
Antonio Reyes. We have never bid higher because the quality hasn't
been there.
"I will only pay what I think a player is worth and there are not
many world-class players better than we already have.
"I don't know why everybody wants us to buy. We have started the
season well, qualified for the Champions League and are playing in
a convincing way.
"We are in the process of turning Cesc Fabregas, Denilson and Abou
Diaby into world-class players and I enjoy doing that. I buy maybe
one player but I work with what is realistic.
"I have a team that I can honestly say will be successful. Are they
hungry now? Yes."
He added: "I'm surprised that people think I have no money to
spend. We were maybe a little bit short for a brief period but not
now.
"We are not short of money and our results will come out soon and
you will see."
Wenger believes his approach to squad building requires greater
skill than buying established players, but is not concerned that
his rivals in the Barclays Premier League will try to muscle in on
his territory.
As prospective teenage signings know they will be given the
opportunity to flourish at Arsenal, Wenger is confident the
Emirates Stadium will always be their preferred destination.
"It's harder trick to pull off buying younger players," he
said.
"But I am not that worried about the competition because players
always go where they think they get a chance and not many clubs
have the patience to give them that chance.
"They will make them wait until they think they are good
enough.
"Because we start them early, they mature earlier and people
integrated into our training sessions know exactly what they have
to do."
Wenger's belief that the squad he has assembled can once again turn
Arsenal into title challengers helps explain his decision to allow
Thierry Henry to join Barcelona during the summer.
The 57-year-old hinted that Henry's presence was hindering the
development of his younger players.
"The young players have to take more responsibility," he
said.
"When he was here Thierry took on a lot of responsibility - when we
didn't score he wanted more and more of the ball. The young players
always thought he was the solution." Winger Alexander Hleb is
unavailable for Sunday's Barclays Premier League clash with
Portsmouth through illness.
Indeed he has nourished lots of
youngsters to become class players. Le boss rocks.
