Arsenal Transfer News: Arsene Wenger's Summer Funds Revealed, Top Rumours

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is reportedly set to be handed £75 million to bolster his squad this summer.

That’s according to Jeremy Wilson of the Daily Telegraph, who wrote the Frenchman will seek to address the spine of his side in the next transfer window, with defence and midfield positions a priority.  

“With an extra £40 million from the Premier League’s new TV deal also available, the club will also be in a position to make massive contract offers for Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez,” Wilson added.

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It’s claimed in the piece that the 2016-17 season could well turn out to be the final one of Wenger’s longstanding tenure in north London, with his contract up at the end of the campaign, and as such the club are willing to back him in the window.

However, as we can see here courtesy of the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast Twitter feed, it seems as though Wenger has reportedly been promised these kinds of funds before:

Indeed, the Frenchman has long had a reputation for being reluctant to spend big money in order to address clear flaws in his squad. But with Wilson claiming there is an uncertain future ahead for a lot of players at the Emirates Stadium, it seems as though Wenger may have no choice but to tap into the club’s cash reserves.

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Kieran Gibbs, Mathieu Debuchy, Mathieu Flamini, Mikel Arteta and Tomas Rosicky will all move on according to Wilson, while Santi Cazorla, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere and Per Mertesacker are also cited as having uncertain futures, with their respective contracts set to expire before 2018.

Wenger certainly needs to get his own act together if Arsenal are to flourish too, as Bleacher Report’s Dean Jones notes here:

Wilson also outlines some of the players the Gunners might go after at the end of the season, with holding midfielders such as Leicester City man N’Golo Kante, Southampton’s Victor Wanyama and Sporting Club’s William Carvalho all said to be on Wenger’s radar.

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Kante, in particular, would add a physical and industrious dimension which has long been scarce in this Gunners team. Sky Sports News HQ summed up the remarkable recent influence he’s had on the Foxes in their surprise quest for the Premier League title:

Additionally, Wilson notes the Gunners' interest in a couple of forwards. Watford man Odion Ighalo is alleged to be a target, as is Borussia Dortmund star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang; however, it’s claimed that with the latter likely to cost around £60 million, any deal is very doubtful at this juncture.

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As noted by Alex Chaffer of FourFourTwo, Aubameyang is in tremendous goalscoring form this term:

For Arsenal fans, the club’s current predicament must be frustrating. Had the club brought in a couple of players in the summer window—a classy striker and a robust holding midfielder—the Gunners would surely be primed to clinch the title. But Wenger’s reluctance to delve into the market seems as though it’ll cost the club dear once again.

A summer kitty of £75 million should be enough to bring in a couple of players that are capable of improving the starting XI at the Emirates Stadium and giving everyone at the club a significant boost.

Wenger has fared well when spending big, as the signings of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil prove; it makes his reluctance to do so often all the more peculiar.