Wenger's £70m war chest


Ah, so it’s that time of year again. Arsenal’s season tickets are due for renewal just as Arsene Wenger is handed a £70m war chest. Funny that.
The Daily Telegraph report that Gunners will be using this handsome sum to target three or four players in the summer in an effort to return the club to the upper echelons of the Premier League. A new keeper is thought to be a priority with Asmir Begovic and Victor Valdes mentioned as possible alternatives to Wojciech Szczesny, while Fiorentina’s Stevan Jovetic is also high on Wenger’s shopping list.
Now, as pointed out by Football365’s excellent Mediawatch column, these kinds of stories are becoming rather familiar now. On exactly the same date last year the Daily Mirror contained a story reporting Arsene Wenger’s £75m summer transfer kitty, while 2011 saw the Telegraph announcing Arsenal’s £40m summer budget to splash on new talent. So far all the North London club have seen during summer windows has been their best players leaving for pastures new. So sorry Arsenal fans, expect to see Santi Cazorla and Jack Wilshere jetting off come the summer.
Stories about these miraculous war chests also seem to emerge soon after the Gunner’s suffer a negative result, just like their weekend defeat to Blackburn which effectively ended their slim hopes of silverware for another year. Hmm, curiouser and curiouser.
Jack Johnson