In a football world where press conferences are as fine-tuned and sugar coated as if they were pre-approved by Amal Clooney, Lord Harris of Peckham has been as candid about Arsenal’s intentions as ‘footballistically’ possible.
The 72-year-old philanthropist has been an Arsenal director for nearly a decade, and is naturally one of the most credible noises within the club. It was for this reason that his clear admission of Arsene Wenger having north of £200m cash reserves has raised expectations.
In a remarkably open interview with the Daily Mail at his office in Orpington, Lord Harris declared Arsenal’s fresh hand in the transfer market.
“Money was tight when we moved to the Emirates but it’s a lot freer now. In the accounts, there’s over £200million in the bank.”
It is unclear if Arsene Wenger will be allowed to spend the entirety of the sum. Indeed, judging the fine state of the current squad, it is unclear if spending that amount is even necessary.
After losing out on Morgan Schneiderlin to Manchester United, Wenger is in need for a defensive midfielder and a bona fide world-class striker to augment his team.
And amidst all the transfer gossip, Lord Harris has made it crystal clear that Arsenal have the ability to pay over the odds.
“We could go into the market and probably buy any player in the world, apart from half a dozen who are unbuyable,” he said.
However, he has emphasized the autonomy Arsenal have provided to Wenger, asserting that no move in the transfer market will be made without his consent.
“We would back him to break the club’s transfer record. You could say to Arsene we’ve got no money and he wouldn’t worry, or you could give him £100m and he might not spend it.
“Apart from [Lionel] Messi and [Cristiano] Ronaldo, he could have any player.”
Despite the disguised war cry on the Barclays Premier League crown, Lord Harris has moved quickly to deny assumptions that Wenger has tied ribbons on a player’s signature.
“At the moment there are no plans to sign anyone, unless he finds a real superstar like Mesut Ozil or Alexis Sanchez,” he said.
“We get a list of the players that Wenger wants. He said if he wanted the man, he could have him.”
With Danny Welbeck not exactly setting the world on fire since his arrival for an estimated £16m, the argument that Arsenal are missing a central striker to relegate Olivier Giroud to the bench is still in the water supply and Lord Harris has confirmed that Wenger’s thinking is along the same lines.
“On the list is a centre forward, but I’m not going to tell you who he is,” he said. “You’ve got to get the other team to want to sell him, but I think he wants to come.
“It basically comes down to whether the other team can find a superstar to replace him, because they don’t have to sell.”
Despite speculations of the mysterious centre forward being Edinson Cavani or Robert Lewandowski, the likeliest reference made by Lord Harris was that of Karim Benzema. The 27-year-old’s links to the North London club has taken some girth in recent weeks, with The Express going as far as claiming a deal will be agreed.
If sporadic reports coupled with Lord Harris’ ambiguous statements are to be believed, Arsene Wenger could be the man to introduce Benzema to the English game.
However, despite a perfect domino of events falling in favour of the Gunners, a satisfactory conclusion seems unlikely for all concerned parties.
Lord Harris also expressed his desire to see Wenger continue his contract beyond 2017.
“I see no reason why Arsene shouldn’t stay beyond his contact, if he wants to,” he said. “I’m sure we will want him to stay, because he’s a good manager and the players respect him.”
