Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has spoken extensively about the importance of stability amongst the squad, and claims that the current crop of players has exactly that, which is not the case for previous seasons as a number of highly rated stars left the club season after season.
With Wenger admitting that the North London side are no longer in a position of needing to sell players in order to fund the Emirates Stadium and retain high quality Premier League status, the boss claims that he can now look at ‘who to bring in’, rather than ‘who will go’.
So far this summer, Arsenal have strengthened with the signing of Chelsea goalkeeper and Premier League legend Petr Cech, while holding on to the top talent in the squad, including the likes of Mesut Ozil, who was linked with Italian side Juventus, the impressive Alexis Sanchez and Real Madrid-scouted Laurent Koscielny; all key members of the Arsenal team.
The French manager admitted that he may be interested in strengthening the squad even further this summer, if the right talent is available, and has claimed that the strong financial position the club is in right now means only the best talent will be looked at to be brought in.
“When you lose your best players it’s impossible [to win the title] and when you see that some other opponents have strengthened their squad and are already stronger than you, it’s difficult,” the Arsenal boss said.
“We only just got in the top four [previously] because we managed to grab every point but you see other teams still strengthening their team and you’re losing your best players, it’s difficult to be convinced that you can win the league.
“What is true [now] is that we have a stability that we did not have before on the squad front. Before, I was more exposed to who will go and now the question I get more is, ‘who will come in?’
“That means that our potential on the market has changed. Will we win the Premier League? We’ll give it absolutely everything, but it’s a very awkward competition. You have five or six competitors. We have a stability that gives us strength, but it’s very difficult to guess how strong the other teams will be.”
The Arsenal boss then discussed stability, which he sees as a key factor in success, highlighting Chelsea’s success last season.
“[Stability] is undervalued but that’s what we want to show.
“Chelsea have a good stability, especially defensively, and they took advantage of it from the start of last season.
“What you could say is that last year we missed our start for different reasons. One of them was that some players were not mentally ready after the World Cup. It was also because we had the Champions League qualifier and that cost us a lot of energy against Besiktas.
“We have a tricky start again. West Ham look to have bought well and Crystal Palace are a strong team. We have to be ready from the beginning but it will be a tricky start.”
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