Arsenal: Will the Gunners Ever Lose the Stigma of Being a Selling Club?

The mercenary culture that infests modern day football has created a status quo that is bitterly ironic for all but the world’s biggest clubs; the players who you want to sell are considered undesirable and the players that you want to hold on to are subject to numerous bids and transfer speculation.

It is a problem that Arsene Wenger himself has consistently spoken out against, commenting in an interview with the News of the World that if he had the power to change anything basic in football, it would be the transfer system which makes mercenaries of players.

"If they are bad ones, they stay and, if they are good, they think only of leaving." The Frenchman added.

Although the statement comes from a 2008 interview, the situation is at its most ominous during this current transfer window. Players such as Denilson, Diaby, Bendtner and Almunia need to leave the Emirates, yet offers for such players are few and far between. Star players Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and Andrei Arshavin on the other hand have made their disillusion about staying at Arsenal public.

It is something of a paradox that Arsenal seems to be spending more time trying to retain their prize assets as opposed to actively adding to their talented squad.  Although this is a concerning problem for the Gunners, what is more concerning is the fact that it has become a perennial theme of the North London clubs off season.

What is more frustrating is that this is a problem that is easily fixed: spend more money.

Arsenal’s transfer policy is admirable, but having recently completed their sixth season without any silverware, they need to change it. Holding onto values that have failed you makes them both obsolete and arbitrary.

In 2008, Arsenal lost three first team regulars, partially due to the clubs refusal to pay them higher wages. Emmanuel Adebayour stands as the most potent example of this, as the Togolese striker famously stated that he wanted Arsenal to pay him £120, 000 a week. Soon after, he departed the club for £25 million, yet no striker of real quality was called in to replace him.

If Arsenal were willing to pay Adebayour and Kolo Toure more money, they would not have left for the blue side of Manchester and, more importantly, the gaps in Arsenal’s defensive and offensive departments may still be filled.

Arsenal however stuck to their policy of not paying player’s astronomical wages. This in itself was fine. The mistake Arsenal made was not immediately filling the gaps left by the departure of the two players, instead they naively assumed that talented young players could fill their boots.

A similar crisis occurred in 2000 following the departures of Marc Overmars and Emmanuel Petit to Barcelona. Nicolas Anelka’s transfer to Real Madrid in 1999 is another fervent example of the Gunners selling their star players. Arsenal made big money off these transfers but was slow to rebuild a successful team.

These transfers, combined with the similar transfers of Thierry Henry and Alexander Hleb, paint a picture of Arsenal being a selling club. Whereas rivals such as Chelsea and Manchester United have kept hold of their star players, Arsenal have consistently been raided by foreign clubs, in particular Barcelona.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s transfer to Real Madrid is the one exception to this rule, and in reality, Manchester United got a far better deal than Arsenal has ever done for losing one of their talismans.

Some fans may argue that branding their beloved team as a “selling club” is unfounded, especially given that all of the players sold have failed to replicate their Arsenal form for their new clubs. Such a claim however is unfounded; the point is the Gunners' best players have left for pastures new. This needs to stop.

An exodus during this current transfer window seems more likely than not as first team regulars start to fill an orderly queue to depart the Emirates. Gael Clichy has already departed and it seems a distinct certainty that Fabregas will be a Barcelona player come September 1^st. It is therefore imperative that Wenger holds on to Arshavin and Nasri, even if it means going against his values by offering them huge contracts and spending big in this current transfer window.

Although Gael Clichy’s £5 million transfer to Manchester City is far from a bitter blow for Arsenal football club, Gunner’s fans will face an anxious two months if the current trend continues.  

To be viewed as serious contenders, Arsenal need to mirror their rival’s dealings in the transfer market. They are already behind Manchester United, City and Chelsea and need to catch up. Selling too many star players and not bringing in enough replacements could see them fall behind Tottenham and Liverpool.

In order to attract new talent and hold onto star players, it is essential that Arsenal spend big on players of real quality and win trophies to keep hold of them. The signing of Gervinho is a good start, but the Gunners need to push on and turn their backs on their previous failed policies.  

It cannot be refuted that Arsenal currently has a good team that is only a little short of winning silverware. Fans need only look to the changes Wenger made in 2001 by bringing in Sol Campbell and Van Bronckhorst, which added that little bit of extra quality that helped Arsenal win the league.

A few additions here and there could catalyse similar success. A few departures could bring about instant failure. That is the tightrope Arsenal is currently walking on.