Arsene Wenger: Good Football Manager, Bad Business Manager?

From the outset, let me set the record straight. I don’t hate Arsenal; I admire their passing game and the trait of buying young (excluding Jens Lehmann and Sol Campbell) talent and nurturing this talent into fully fledged international players.

Ok, now that is out of the way, let’s crack on.

It would appear that in recent months, Arsenal fans have become somewhat annoyed and vocal about the lack of investment in the team, as well as the lack of silverware to put in the trophy cabinet at The Emirates. There are a number of Gooners who joke that the Emirates Cup is the 'only trophy worth winning'.

But, of course, this piece, which is all my opinion, has nothing to do with Arsenal’s fans and, really, nothing to do with Arsenals transfer policies regarding buying players. This article, or rant, if you will, relates to the Gunners’ manager.

He's got a degree in Economics, but fails to see that selling Nasri makes business sense

I’ll give him his due, he teaches players good attractive football, and he likes to implement technical skill as well as attacking football. He is, in all cases, a good, if not excellent, football manager.

My bone to pick with him is that he seems to lack any business sense, especially for a man that has an economics degree! You can argue that he shouldn’t see his team as a business; he is employed to train players, teach tactics and win football games. But it is clearly obvious, in this day and age, that football is a business. It’s as much about making money as it winning games and trophies, although the two evidently go hand in hand.

In Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, Arsenal have two great midfielders, but let’s not get above ourselves. Cesc, whilst being true class, is injury prone. His hamstrings, that continually have some sort of problem, are proving to be his downfall. And Nasri, who played well for 4 months of last year, is good but not a world-class versatile midfielder as people make him out to be.

Why not sell them both, gain £55 million in the process and reinvest this money in a world-class playmaker and a centre back. Arsenal is being touted as Gary Cahill’s next club, and he should be available for £15 million or more, this would leave roughly £40 million to invest in a new central midfielder. With that money, Arsenal could bring in Sneijder, Modric or even De Rossi with cash left to spare.

Will celebrations involving both Nasri and Fabregas be a thing of the past ?

In fact there are a list of players that would be adequate replacements for Nasri and Fabregas. The aforementioned De Rossi and Sneijder are some more senior examples, but Wenger could keep youth in his side if he bought Eden Hazard or tempted Lyon to part with Yoann Gourcuff.  The pair would cost under £55 million, would probably have cheaper wages and could be moulded into Arsenal's way of playing.

Don’t get me wrong. Players such as Nasri and Fabregas would be hard to replace, but not impossible. The emergence of Wilshere and the recovery of Ramsey are ideal for Wenger’s philosophy of attacking young midfielders. Just add someone alongside them who can either unlock a defence to release the striker with a pin-point pass, or to be a no-nonsense battler in midfield to finally replace Vieira and they’re sorted.

Even if Arsenal and Wenger manage to convince Fabregas to stay, Nasri should be sold. £20-25 million for a player that has one year remaining on his contract, is inconsistent and is stalling on signing an extension to stay at the club would be a great deal– even if he did leave for a league rival – as its very doubtful he'll be sold for more than £25 million in the future.

Was signing Gervinho a necessary purchase?

The North-London club apparently have a large transfer budget and the sale of Nasri would free up more funds for the club to invest in a much needed centre back, a new play-maker and a goal scoring centre forward partner Robin Van Persie. Gervinho has already been bought in, but this was not a necessary purchase in my eyes as focus should have always been getting a new centre back.

Wenger needs to buy 3 top players to make the difference between finishing in the Europa League or the Champions League qualifying spots come the end of the season.  He needs to invest or Arsenal will struggle to keep up with Man City and Spurs, let alone challenge United and Chelsea for the title. He needs to forget about his philosophy of not spending big. If he fails to deliver a trophy this season, it will probably be his last at the club. So, he may as well spend big and give himself the best chance of winning a trophy with some new top-class players with proven quality. 

Dave