The Arsene Reason: An Honest Look at Arsenal's Finances Under Wenger

Arsene Wenger has taken a battering for a long time, and what's unfortunate about it is most of the rams have come from people low in economic knowledge regarding erratic markets.

The problem for Wenger is not transfer fees, as people have come to suggest—it's wages.

I was at a sports bar weeks ago, watching the Arsenal game at Emirates Stadium against Bolton, and someone spent 80 minutes of game time talking about how cheap the man is, referring to the cost of acquiring the services of Andrei Arshavin and the pursuit of Chamakh.

I had to remind the gentleman that Arshavin had reached the end of his stay with Zenit, and since the Russian league had ended, the deal was sweet on him and forced his club to take whatever it could before having to buy out his contract.

As for the man from Morroco, it would make little economic sense to get a player six months before his contract ends for a fee that would get another player with a three-year contract running. Plus, who knows if Wenger was not using him as bait for another purchase (just like he did when he tried to get Samir Nasri using Ben Arfa).

The top players at Arsenal are paid around £85,000 a week, and the top names that can be mentioned would be asking for £100,000 to £150,000.

Sure, Arsenal could make a single exception for an incredible player, like it did with Henry. But, basically, if the team got someone new who demanded a much higher pay scale than the existing squad's, even if the new player were as good as David Villa, it would only be a short matter of time before other members of the squad who contribute a lot asked for comparable wages.

Suddenly, Arsenal's finances would become destabilised.

Maybe if FIFA or UEFA introduces laws requiring clubs to run at a profit, or to at least break even (instead of recording losses, like the highest-paid payers seem to do), this mad wage inflation might change.

Until then, Arsene's options are more restricted than many people realise.