Football
Kevin Palmer 9y

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger cools talk of £200m budget

Arsene Wenger has played down Arsenal director Lord Harris' suggestion the club have £200 million ready to spend on transfer targets.

Harris said the club has huge cash reserves that Wenger could use to sign almost any player in the world this summer, but the Arsenal boss played down his comments.

"He has gone a bit overboard because that is not true," Wenger told a news conference. "We are in a situation where we are working hard, where if an opportunity comes up we can do something, but we are not in need. We are in a strong position with a strong squad I am happy with.

"We have built up something special last season -- that is a good team dynamic and confidence level. We want to work on that and not expect too much from outside now. It is inside our squad that our performance has to be sufficient."

Arsenal were linked with a move for Karim Benzema -- although the speculation has been dismissed by the Real Madrid striker's agent -- and Wenger was eager to lower expectations over potential recruits.

"I don't want to promise you too much," he said. "We are open-minded everywhere. We work very hard to find the players we can. We spent a lot of money in the last two seasons and bought Gabriel in the middle of the season to be ready for this season.

"We are not reluctant to spend the money. Now we have the money, if we can find the players we will spend the money."

Meanwhile, Arsenal play in the Emirates Cup this weekend along with Lyon, Wolfsburg and Villarreal but they will be without Danny Welbeck.

Welbeck has been suffering with a knee injury and he is set to miss the start of the season.

"He will not be available this weekend and he has not fully recovered," Wenger said. "He is supposed to start to go outside and run again this weekend and, if that is positive, in the next three weeks he will be available.

"He will be short for the start of the season in two weeks, but three weeks should be all right."

Chile international Alexis Sanchez will also miss the Emirates Cup, which takes place at Arsenal's home stadium, as he has yet to return to training after his country's Copa America triumph.

^ Back to Top ^