Arsenal’s decline in terms of being able to compete for trophies started as the club moved from the Highbury to the Emirates stadium. This brand-new colossus with the capacity to seat 60,000 fans was expected to take Arsenal to the next era, but fans have been left scarred of what is so far a very dark period. A return of just two FA Cup titles since the 2003-04 season is not the kind of success Arsenal were hoping after the move to the Emirates. This move was seen as vital since the club had to look for another source of revenue without the aid of a rich benefactor.
Initially, the huge interest payments towards the construction costs of the stadium proved to be a major hindrance towards the club’s ability to fight in the transfer market against the top clubs. The club had to rely heavily on Arsene Wenger’s judgement when it came to finding young and rising talent. The Frenchman did achieve a lot of success in this regard with players like Cesc Fabregas a feather in his cap, but he has also been criticised immensely for altering the club’s transfer policy.
Wenger recently argued that spending money alone does not guarantee success. He pointed out to the performance of Rob Holding, who cost only £2 million, against Leicester City last weekend. However, he does not seem to realise that value-for-money buys and youngsters lack the consistency one can expect from a really top player. In the end, winning competitions boils down to consistency more than luck.
Arsenal no longer compete against the big guns when it comes to the cream of the transfer market. Yes, they have signed the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil for big money in recent times, but they are almost insignificant to the sum spent by the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, and Manchester City in recent times. Even Liverpool have spent in excess of £100 million during the last five summer transfer windows, but Arsenal are amongst teams like West Brom and Sunderland – without this respect – when it comes to their net transfer spend. Checkout sportsbooks for more information on this news.
Even after more than a decade of failure, Wenger is unlikely to change his style in the last few days of the 2016 summer transfer window. Wenger thinks that he has financial mastery over the transfer market, but the ugly truth is that the model is outdated. Club needs success and it has to come fast.
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