Arsenal: Low Investment Shows Arsene Wenger Is A Miracle Worker

Recent figures show that Arsenal are extremely frugal in the transfer market, illustrating the miracle that Arsene Wenger has performed in charge of the club.

Arsene Wenger has become one of the most divisive topics in English football, never mind just the circles of the club in which he presides over. The future of Arsene Wenger is a topic that has questions and very few answers.

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There are impassioned supporters of him, people who wholeheartedly believe in his stubborn and unrelenting ways, and there are those who feel his stubborn and unrelenting ways are the very crux of the issue. Arsenal – while they may have ended that dreaded trophyless run – are still without a Premier League title since 2004, a drought that is the foundation for the very debate on Wenger’s future.

After a season where a 5,000-1 shot won the league, there are very serious accusations being made about Wenger’s competence to bring a league title to the Emirates. Such accusations do have a level of weighting. Arsenal have, quite simply, struggled in the latter part of the season for many years now, and it has often cost them a chance of mounting a serious and genuine title challenge.

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There failures are not due to a lack of talent, but rather, a lack of heart, a lack of spirit, something that must stem from the manager. Consequently, very serious questions are rightly being asked of Wenger. However, recent studies undertaken by financial services company Deloitte have revealed that Arsenal are spending a fraction of their competitors over the past five years.

Between June 2010 and May 2015, Arsenal have racked up a net spend of £86.95 million in the transfer window. They may seem like a bit of a nothing figure, however, when compared to other Premier League clubs, it becomes clear that Arsenal are punching well above their financial weight.

Arsenal sit seventh in the Premier League for net transfer spend, behind West Ham and Queens Park Rangers, two teams who have not spent all five seasons in the top flight of the English division. Top of the pile sit Manchester City, having a net spend of £466 million, with Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool completing the top four, all of them spending over £200 million on transfers.

It is an outstanding difference and truly shows the wonders of Wenger’s job at Arsenal. To be to assemble a squad that can even hold a candle to the likes of City and Chelsea having spent so little in comparison is nothing short of miraculous. Some will point to the very fact that Arsenal haven’t spent much money as a weakness of Wenger as a manager. However, Wenger has not turned down funds, he simply never truly had them in the first place.

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For many years, Arsenal were a selling club. They did not have the financial clout to compete with other clubs in the Premier League, nevermind throughout Europe. Arsenal saw players like Cesc Fabregas, Robin Van Persie and Samir Nasri all depart for other clubs for bigger wages. Wenger simply didn’t have the money to compete with these clubs, and being able to keep the club in the top four, under such financial restraints is genuinely miraculous.