I think our players are the calibre to get us challenging we just need a few more of them to have a better squad and to move forward. So I think it is feasible to get more players like Giroud, podolski, Cazorla, Mert, Koscielny and not go crazy with wages.
I don't think our wage structure hampers us, I think us not being able to compete with buying the players initially was the problem. This year we finally have things coming into place and the news of our bid for Suarez seems to back that up. But of course us spending that kind of money wil lead to bigger wages of course.
You say the claims we're ridiculous by Wenger and Gazidas but only from your post before you were saying how possible it is with our new finances that we can pay those wages? So why is it ridiculous hey said it? Because straight afterwards they didn't buy a player and pay him 250k?
We can't compete with Chelsea and Man city at all wih wages they can pay each one of their players 250k a week and be fine. If they want a player badly enough they will get them over us. Man united is the biggest club in the world so will still be ahead of us in that respect but they still can't afford to pay all of their players 250k like Rooney....Rooney was a special case, just like Cescy and Persie were for us and we were willing to smash our wage structure for.
The things you are complaining about arsenal seem to be addressing or tried to address quite recently regarding wages that is why I can't understand why you are talking like you are about wages?
Anyway we are repeating ourselves as usual......the new season musty not be far away
We surely can't compete with Man City or Chelsea, but that doesn't explain our infertility in the transfer market.
I think what Rentboy is referring to is something that is not explicitly announced, but remnants of the problem can be inferred by observing our policies in the recent years of the transfer market. We can't directly tell the club and Wenger's approach, because not every negotiating step is revealed to the public, but the results lead us to certain conclusions.
There may not be direct complaints about the wage structure from the squad, but it surely must have played at least a minor role in some departures. Each case really had its exceptions (Cesc, Flamini wanting to return to home countries; Adebayor demanding outrageous money; VP trophy demand: Song just being ....). But the exception is, probably, a signifacant pay rise might have convinced those players to stay. Also, higher wages might have attracted the key players required for trophies, thus eliminating another reason of departure.
Most recently, Walcott's saga directly exposed this issue. And you say the club is 'trying to answer' the problem now, but it was really up until the last minute that Wenger agreed to sign. (Which it can be argued if Walcott really deserves it, but that's a tangent topic).
Now, about the transfer fees and player wages. Again, we say Wenger is trying to address it, but if so, where are the results? So far we have a repeat of previous seasons with insufficient and incomplete offers. And, failures to swoop in for potential candidates. We could have easily gotten Villa or Jovetic. Or we could have already signed Julio Cesar or Mignet, etc. But we haven't made any significant offers for any of them. We don't really know why none of these transfers went through. It is possible that Wenger never intended to buy them. But, if he did intend, then the reasons were probably financial. We can argue as a tangent if players are worth their price tag, but that is not the issue. The issue is if you truly want a player, you pay the price, sometimes even if it is above ideal ranges. Sometimes they pay off i.e. Mata. Sometimes they don't so much i.e. Carroll or Torres.
Another point I would like to make is the competition. Yes, if sugar daddy clubs swoop in, we don't stand a chance. But in certain cases this is directly our fault. In the case of Mata, we were negotiating for him for weeks on end. (Most likely due to financial reasons). Then Chelsea swooped in and finished the deal in a matter of days. It could be argued that it is our fault for dragging things out and giving your competitors a chance to swoop in.
Similar to Hazard. We were linked with Hazard in the media almost a year before interest in him exploded. There were practically no other clubs directly linked to him (in terms of specation. Regardless, he was a great prospect and surely, scouts from many clubs were watching him). You can easily say that we should have pressured a deal to sign him back then, rather being inactive, where a year later Chelsea, Madrid, Man City, Barca would do an all out battle for him.
Again, we say we are trying to change it recently by offering Suarez 150k a week and paying up large transfer fees. But where are the results? Making bids shows nothing in terms of resolute. It's already August and we have made no signings, not even in the calibre of Gignac. (Sanogo doesn't count. He's just a prospect). We could make a record-breakkng bid for Ronaldo for 70m €, but going around making bids doesn't mean we are determined to change anything until the deals are finalized.
We will see again with the case of Bernard. I doubt the club will show true resolute to crush competing interest from Shakthar.
I am sure there are multiple factors for each example I brought up. But it doesn't change the reality of the situation. More money spent on transfer fees and player wages gets you better players. PERIOD. I choose to believe the unofficial story going about that it was the stadium payments holding us back, and that we can finally spend big with the additional sponsorships coming in as well. But, as long as this season things remain the same, that story will turn out to be BS as well.
I believe, at the end of the day, Wenger really can't bring himselft to accept the inflated prices in the market. He choses to buy players, but when negotiates go on and prices go up I think he just goes "Damn it. This guy isn't worth that much! Is he really that much better than Wilshere/Arteta/Giroud/etc. at the end of the day?!" and retreats back. Honestly, I don't blame him too much. I go through the same struggle in my FM2013 games
But, the problem is that he has recently also not gone in for logical and economical transfers that would really help the squad. i.e. David Villa and Julio Cesar would be signings most people would applaud as great additions to the squad. But maybe this time around, he was really tempted to go for someone shinier than Villa whose star seems to be fading. Who knows
Like I said, there can always be multiple sides. Maybe, he just outright doesn't like to spend money.
Regardless, at the end of the day, I will support Wenger as I'm a huge fan. But it is clear as day that this roster is really 3-4 players away from challenging for anything.
Robin's a great lad, that's why you lot didn't win anything with him, he's too nice, once you get a cunt like Suarez you'll be back to vintage Arsenal 