Arsenal manager slams new rule as he shapes squad
Arsenal Football Club manager Arsene Wenger has slammed the new rule introduced to the English Premier League (EPL) this season which limits clubs to having 25 senior players as he shapes his squad for the upcoming season.
Wenger has slated the decision of the Football Association (FA) to bring in the changes, which have been designed to aid and encourage the development of players within English clubs. Ahead of his club’s Emirates Cup clashes with Serie A outfit AC Milan and Scottish Premier League (SPL) runners-up Celtic, he told reporters it was a “disastrous decision for football and for the players”.
The Gunners boss also questioned the economic effects of the move and spoke of his surprise that the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) had allowed the move to go ahead given that the ruling is likely to see clubs trim their playing staff numbers, placing PFA members out of work. He said: “I was quite amazed the union accepted it. I'm not a big fan. First, it puts many players without clubs. That's the mathematical consequence. Secondly, it puts the clubs in a weak position in the transfer market because when you already have 25 players and you buy another one, you know you now have to get rid of one. You have to calculate when you buy a player how much it costs to get rid of one.
'Not satisfactory'
"The big clubs will always have 25 top players and you will not stop that by this kind of decision. When the big clubs employ a player and he has to go to a smaller club there are only two solutions: the smaller club has to pay above their own potential or the big club pays part of his salary. In either case it's not satisfactory.”
Although critical of the new rule, Wenger has a long, strong history of bleeding youngsters into his senior squad through his club’s youth academy, including the likes of forward Carlos Alberto Vela Garrido and defender Kieran Gibbs. He said: "We have to remind ourselves that we decided to go with a very young team three or four years ago and we have developed this team. Two years ago, we were quite far away but last year, in April, we were two points away from the top. We should be closer again because that development is part of a young team. I know that in England when you do not win the championship it's always about buying, but what is important is that we improve. We're not a team at the end of a cycle. We are at the start of a cycle. Our future will be decided not only by who we buy or need, but also by how much we improve.”
Resisting calls
Wenger has never been one to spend needlessly in the transfer market, however, and has resisted calls from his club’s fans to shell out on new talent in the transfer window. He has signed 24-year-old centre-back Laurent Koscielny from FC Lorient of France for £10 million and has also secured the talented Marouane Chamakh from Bordeaux on a free transfer, but has admitted he would like to add another central defender to his squad. He said: “We have lost Mikael Silvestre, William Gallas and Sol Campbell and only signed Koscielny until now. Johan Djourou is coming back from injury and so you could say we have signed two, but number-wise we are still short.”
He is also in the market for a top-quality goalkeeper to provide competition for Manuel Almunia. Although he has long-admired Fuham FC’s Mark Schwartzer, he said Arsenal were “not close to signing anybody, so I can't say this player or that player will be ours next season.”
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