Another Summer of Frustration

A summer will not be a summer without a string of Arsenal players linked or eventually leaving the club. This greatly frustrates the fans as we do not see this sort of upheaval at any of our rivals, so why does this happen?

Some put it down to the fact that Arsenal's finances are in a precarious position. Unless there is something that the board are not telling the fans, this is clearly not the case. The club had £70M in the bank in November, and it is not until the end of the season that the club receives the prize money from the Champions League and the Premier League. In addition the club hosted Brazil v Sweden at the Emirates as well as two Bruce Springstein concerts. So money is not an issue.

Arsenal's wage structure has been mooted as a problem. The club lost Flamini because they were unable to offer him a salary in the region of £75K a week. Recently Robin van Persie has made noises about the club's wage structure, whilst Adebayor is rumoured to be on £35K a week. Yet if you look at Arsenal's overall wages it is more than Liverpool, and not far behind Manchester United.

So if its not wages or the clubs finances, is it the lack of trophies won by the club in recent years? Do players believe they can win more at other clubs?

When players leave Arsenal, how many have truly excelled beyond their Arsenal career? The great Henry has even said he would like to return to Arsenal as an Arsenal player never leaves Arsenal. Look at the litany of "failures", Reyes (a Spain regular at Arsenal, now not even considered worthy of a squad place), Edu (career plagued by injuries since leaving Arsenal), Ashley Cole ( has never hit the heights of his Highbury days), Vieira (whilst winning several Serie A titles, has never been the commanding colossus he was at Arsenal), Overmars ( a frustrated time at Barcelona), Anelka ( he could have been the best striker in the world until his brothers whispered sweet nothings into his ears and tempted him with the lure of Real Madrid).


A word of warning to Hleb and Adebayor, the green is never greener outside of Arsenal.