Arsenal managing director Keith Edelman insists the North London
club are now in a position to make huge signings, should manager
Arsene Wenger wish to do so.
The Gunners' board have always tried to stress that the move to
Emirates Stadium has not impacted on Wenger's spending power, and
that the frugal Frenchman has made the decision to shun
multi-million pound moves himself.
However, financial results revealed on Wednesday have shown that
the change of home has seen turnover increase from £57million to
£100.8million, giving the London side a much stronger presence in
the transfer market.
Whether Wenger opts to shift from his policy of focusing on youth
development is open to speculation, but Edelman insists the
finances are in place for Arsenal to make high-profile and
expensive captures should they choose to.
"Arsene is not one to go and spend huge amounts of money on
players," said Edelman.
"But if he wanted to do something of that magnitude there's no
reason we couldn't get that to happen.
"We can do it. It's just a matter of what Arsene's strategy
is.
"There is money available for Arsene in the summer, I think we've
got to wait until the summer and see what he wants to do."
Edelman also revealed that The Gunners are planning to bid for the
right to host a UEFA Champions League final at their new home,
following the success of two international friendlies involving
Brazil this season.
"We are looking at those kind of options," Edelman told the club's
official website. "It may not be this year but hopefully in future
years we will be holding more competitions and more matches.
"We will think about putting our name forward for a European final.
Now we're confident we can operate it, everyone can see we've held
the finest international matches that you can see in the stadium,
and I think it's a great product so yes we will review that course
of action."