Arsene Wenger has confirmed for the first time that he does treat Arsenal’s money as if it was his own.
Gunners manager Wenger has also confessed he is cautious about spending big because he is nervous about making mistakes in the transfer market.
For years, Arsenal fans have complained that he behaves as if he would be spending his own cash and urged him to loosen the purse-strings while watching title-race rivals splurge on new faces.
And Wenger has now finally admitted in a new book – Game Changers: Inside English Football, written by former Charlton boss Alan Curbishley – that he IS reluctant to open up the club chequebook.
The 66-year-old, who is just over a month away from reaching 20 years as Arsenal boss, said: “I personally believe the only way to be a manager is to spend the club’s money as if it were your own, because if you don’t do that you’re susceptible to too many mistakes.
“You make big decisions and I believe you have to act like it’s your own money — like you’re the owner of the club and you can identify completely with the club, because if you don’t do that I think you cannot go far.”
Wenger bought just one player – goalkeeper Petr Cech – last summer and has made just a single big-money signing so far this off-season in £30m Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka.
With half the Premier League have broken their club transfer record in the current window, Arsenal fans are growing increasingly frustrated.
They chanted “spend some f***ing money” at Wenger after Saturday’s goalless draw at Leicester, and afterwards the Frenchman insisted he felt duty-bound to the club’s 600 employees to be careful before splashing out on transfers.
Arsenal are determined to bring in a new centre-half before the transfer window but Valencia have demanded £50m for Germany international Shkodran Mustafi and West Brom want £25m for Northern Ireland’s Manchester United old boy Jonny Evans.
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