Gareth Bale Bid from Real Madrid Has Arsene Wenger Justifiably Frustrated

Real Madrid's reported world record bid for Tottenham Hotspur would set a bad precedent for European football—and Arsenal's Arsene Wenger knows it. 

According to David Hytner of The Guardian, the La Liga power has offered a staggering £86.3 million for the 24-year-old star. Wenger has classified the bid as a joke, telling The Guardian:

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It makes a joke of the financial fair play regulations...I find it amazing that in the year the regulations come in, world football has gone completely crazy. You wonder what kind of impact and effect financial fair play has on the football world. It looks like it has made everybody worse than before.

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The Financial Fair Play regulations that Wenger speaks of were a concept that was unanimously approved by the UEFA's executive committee in 2009, per UEFA.com. The primary objectives of the regulations as stated by the organization are as follows:

• to introduce more discipline and rationality in club football finances;
• to decrease pressure on salaries and transfer fees and limit inflationary effect;
• to encourage clubs to compete with(in) their revenues;
• to encourage long-term investments in the youth sector and infrastructure;
• to protect the long-term viability of European club football;
• to ensure clubs settle their liabilities on a timely basis.

The regulations are designed to discourage teams from spending beyond their means, only using resources that have been earned by the club. The desired effect is that clubs who must curb spending to continue making a profit will have an opportunity to remain competitive with clubs that are able to spend beyond their means. 

Madrid's bid definitely violates the spirit of the regulations and is in direct opposition to many of the objectives listed, namely encouraging rationality and limiting inflationary effect. 

The Spanish club has already spent £26.5 million apiece on summer transfers Isco and Asier Illarramendi this summer. An £86.3 million transfer fee for Bale would push their summer spending spree up to an incredible £139.3 million. 

That's not a realistic number for the vast majority of clubs in Europe to spend. It clearly puts pressure on other European clubs to spend money that they don't have to remain competitive, a sure recipe for disaster down the road.

Wenger may have some personal reasons for his frustration. His pursuit of Liverpool striker Luis Suarez has not been successful to this point and will likely cost him upwards of £55 million to bring the striker to the Emirates.

If he weren't feeling the pressure to make a splash this summer, it's unlikely he would care that one of his Premier League rival's top talents may be poached away for an exorbitant amount of money. But that doesn't make his statements any less true. 

Wenger's frustration with the situation is completely justified in this case.