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Kevin Whitcher, the editor of Arsenal’s popular fanzine The Gooner and co-author of the critically acclaimed Arsènal: The Making of a Modern Superclub, has warned fellow supporters of the north London club that Arsene Wenger faces several more years of tight financial constraints as the property development schemes, which form part of the club’s regeneration of the Highbury area, suffer during the current economic climate.
Widely regarded as an authority on all things Arsenal, Whitcher explained to sport.co.uk that the transformation of Highbury stadium into a series of flats under the banner ‘Highbury Square’ will not reap the club any profit and was having a direct negative influence on the manager’s spending capability.
“The problem is that the club have either got to push through the Highbury Square development or cut their losses and effectively declare that part of the organisation is bankrupt and walk away from it,” Whitcher explained.
“They’ve got a £120m debt repayment to find for next April. The club have always maintained that the football and the property business are completely separate, and legally that is true, however, if they are going to see it through they do need to find money from somewhere.
“What I can foresee is that the club will pay back as much of the debt as they can by next April, but I heavily suspect they will re-negotiate the loan of what is left and this situation will drag on as long as Wenger is prepared to tolerate it.”
Asked if the stark financial reality had forced Wenger to sell top stars to raise funds for new recruits, Whitcher responded:
“That is the conclusion to make from (a) the net transfer spending of the last five seasons and (b) even the balance sheets. At the end of the day the accounts don’t lie. I think if he was seriously desperate the board would give him a little money. However, I think in a way he has used the situation because he is actually very much into the idea of building a team from scratch without spending any money.
I don’t think he wants to sell his players, but certain players effectively make themselves expendable through different reasons. There is an argument that he is not a bad judge of when to let them go. In a way I think it’s a joint thing between him and the board; he does attend all the board meetings so he is effectively a director in all but name.
“Wenger is therefore as culpable as any of them and perpetuates the idea that he does have money. If in fact he did have cash, surely he wouldn’t be foolish enough not to spend it.”
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