Arsenal’s reputation as a club afraid of spending has been dispelled. It was a myth, for the most part, too. Restricted by the stadium move, the Gunners managed their finances shrewdly to ensure the long-term security of the club and Arsene Wenger acted accordingly. Since then, though, spending has been free. Perhaps too hesitant in the market at times, Arsenal have spent money and they have done so in some rather large deals.
The two headlines of their change in transfer policy were Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez. Now regarded as their two most important players – along with Laurent Koscielny – the two are in an apparent contract stand-off with their employers. Two of the few Premier League players who would be key members of almost any squad in world football are in a battle with their club. Whether the issue is about the future of Wenger or simply financial, it reflects poorly on the club as a whole.
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Arsenal’s wage structure has been widely talked about for season after season, but these are two players who should not be bound by such restrictions. The financial might around world football now means that players of their calibre can demand the sort of wages that have been touted around the rumour columns. Loyalty to a club is one thing, but if offered a double, or even triple, your money deal elsewhere it is impossible to ignore.
Sanchez, perhaps more than Ozil, is indispensable to the Gunners. He has taken them into a position of genuine title contention and is one of the league’s very few players who can win a match entirely on his own. Some of his performances this season have been astonishing in their energy, technique and end product. Whatever was thought of Sanchez during his time at Barcelona, the Chilean is now sitting at the very top table of world football.
The longer the rumblings of contract discontent continue, the greater the speculation grows. Arsenal are supposed to have escaped the days of selling their best players, yet they are not being proactive in tying down two of the worlds’ best. Sticking to the club’s principals is honourable, but that will not be accepted by the fans if they lose their two heroes.
Losing Sanchez would be the most hurtful sale of them all. And, even more painfully, the distribution of finances around European football means that if he were to leave there is a good chance he would join a Premier League rival. Arsenal’s fans have voiced their frustrations at the club on a few occasions over the last few seasons, but this would be the final straw.
Being bullied by players into paying excessive wages is so often a mistake for clubs. Arsenal, in this case at least, must pay what they demand. Losing Ozil or Sanchez would be a sign that they lack ambition and an admittance that they cannot compete with the other top European sides, or even their domestic rivals. The inflation in wages and transfer fees is surely daunting for a club, but success on the pitch simply comes at that price now.
The impact on the squad, the fan base and the entire club that the continued uncertainty brings must be minimised. Arsenal are a stronger, deeper squad than they have been since their Highbury days, they must now show to Ozil and Sanchez that they will flex their financial might for their contracts too. Wenger must make his own future clear to give the club and the players are a vision to work towards.
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