Jeff Graceffo - Arsenal Chairman Admits Reality

Arsenal's chairman admitted that they cannot spend the amount of money that clubs such as Chelsea and Manchester City do.

While the previously mentioned clubs are owned by billionaires, Arsenal shouldn't be in the position they're in.  Throughout the 1990's and early 2000's they constantly fought for the Premier League title and qualified for the Champions League. In addition, they spent hundreds of millions of dollars/pounds on Emirates Stadium, they're state of the art facility, which replaced Highbury.  Furthermore, over the past five to seven years they sold off most of their best players at peak value.  These players include Ashley Cole, Thierry Henry, Robin Van Persie, Patrick Vieira, Cesc Fabregas, Alex Song, etc. Where is all of their revenue going that they cannot afford to make big purchases?

In my opinion, the sale of these players is mostly justified. The majority of them were sold when they were in their late 20's, and in their peak.  They only had a few more years left in them, at which point their value would be significantly diminished.  The problem is that rather than stockpile the money and invest in the best players, whether prospects or established stars, they've chosen to buy quantity over quality. After selling Cesc Fabregas they brought in a series of average players who all cost a decent sum of money, so in the end they gained nothing.  They lost the quality of Fabregas and the money that they received for him with little return.  This year they sold Robin Van Persie and brought in Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud.  They have no money left over, yet they brought in two players that have nowhere near Van Persie's talent.

I've always enjoyed watching Arsenal due to Arsene Wenger's style of play, but they have made a lot of mistakes in the transfer market over the past few years.  For all of the great players they've sold, I can't think of one great purchase.  They've kept pace b/c of their youth system which developed Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jack Wilshere. This is where they should focus their money; youth development. They would get a much better return.

By Jeff Graceffo