Arsenal: Arsene Wenger the protector begins

Arsenal reportedly only have £50 million to spend this summer. While I have no idea whether that is true or not, it does start the thinking that Arsene Wenger was protecting the board.

There has always been a debate throughout the latter decade of Arsene Wenger’s tenure centred on who is actually responsible for the demise, at least in comparison to the first decade, of the club. Some say it’s Wenger itself; others say that it is the board; more still pin it on Stan Kroenke and the ownership.

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The primary reason for the wide-range of opinion centred on knowing the cause but not the root author. The cause was simple: Arsenal hadn’t spent enough money in the transfer window to compete with their ever-rich rivals. And then, even when they did come to invest, they still did so poorly.

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But nobody, at least externally, could tell you why the money was never made available. In the early years after the move to the Emirates, it was likely never there. Moving stadiums is expensive and resources have to be put aside. The transfer kitty is the first pot to be diminished. But as the years passed, the argument evolved. It wasn’t a question of whether there was any money, but rather why it wasn’t being released to invest in new players.

Arsenal’s financial records have always told an extremely healthy and prosperous story, especially in recent years. They have more money to spend than they have actually spent. So why haven’t they spent it when the squad has been in clear need of sprucing up for many, many years? This is the question that drove the Wenger Vs Board debate.

Thankfully, it looks as though we may get an answer to it in the coming years. With Wenger set to leave the club at the end of the year, we will see a new manager-board dynamic, one that should allow us to apportion blame for the failings of the club over the past decade. And the early signs do not look good for the board.

A report from The Daily Telegraph claims that Wenger’s successor will only have £50 million to spend on transfers this summer. In the modern market, that is utterly unacceptable and is a figure that will only see this squad depreciate further, rather than turn their fortunes around and potentially fight for a title.

Additionally, from June 2004 through to May 2013, Arsenal actually made a £20 million profit in regards to net spend. In contrast, Spurs were at £92 million net spend, Liverpool at £169 million, Manchester United at £170 million, Chelsea at £390 million, and Manchester City at £410 million. That is no way to run an allegedly title-challenging team.

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And so the thinking of Wenger the protector begins. Perhaps it was the board’s fault all along, and Wenger merely had the grace to take on such criticisms on his own shoulders to protect the club. It is a nice theory that certainly could well be true. Only time will truly tell, but if Arsenal don’t spend big soon, then more and more will be jumping on the bandwagon.