Before he left the club, Arsenal managing director Keith Edelman advised Arsene Wenger to limit his spending to £25m.

At the beginning of the year, the January transfer window was largely ignored by the Gunners, while other clubs spent large amounts of money securing their squads. 

It seemed that if Arsenal had £60-70m to spend, they would be transformed into the menace of Europe. When Thierry Henry was sold to Barcelona, the shopping began. Bacary Sagna and Lassana Diarra were obtained - but for what?  Diarra moved to London but after not getting enough games, signed for Portsmouth. Was the young Frenchman's signing merely a short-term investment buy? The Gunners allegedly made a healthy profit of nearly £4m out of his move.

'There must now be a focus on consistent spending. A treasure chest of only £25m is not enough '


Isn’t Arsenal the club itself a business entity? The move from Highbury was to ensure added gate receipts from a 60,000 capacity stadium would give the club money to compete in the transfer market.

It has been said that Arsenal’s do not want to tinker with the squad and allow some level of consistency in the team. But would that consistency be affected to bringing in world-class players? The stadium would be full every game and the youngsters would train with stars, thus adding much-needed assurance to the team.

The Gunners are suffering, Mathieu Flamini is now gone – and AC Milan and other Italian giants are going hell for leather to solidify their playing ranks. 

Now Aleksandr Hleb is demanding a huge increase to his salary, even though he is likely to leave for Italy regardless – showing that the almighty dollar holds significant sway for players.

There is even talk that other clubs have their eye on Cesc Fabregas. Wenger is furious at the way clubs are approaching his players. It is imperative that Cesc stays, as he is arguably the Gunners' best player.

Edelman’s departure was thought to be a good thing to allow Wenger an open season to spend money on players. Danny Fiszman is now the central authority in the club alongside chief executive Ken Friar, but the much expected windfall from the new stadium has not materialised due to lack of cash from Arsenal's big property businesses.  Such issues are of no concern to the average fan.

There must now be a focus on consistent spending. A treasure chest of only £25m is not enough especially with players like William Gallas not performing well.

Arsenal could even drop out of the Big Fourl now there is food for thought.