Bard
As this year’s title campaign fizzles out in dreary and predictable fashion with serious questions being asked about the manager’ s position, the really interesting contest is going on off the field. The outcome of the Sanchez and Ozil contract negotiations will determine the future direction of Arsenal football club, whether Wenger stays or goes and what’s more it’s all Paul Pogba’s fault. It wasn’t that long ago that dear old Ivan was waxing lyrical about Arsenal’s newly found financial clout after years of paying off debt. We are, he announced ‘just off the shoulder’ of the big clubs. And on he went, ‘we can now afford to buy any of the top players we want’. This was supposed signal a new era for Arsenal. No longer hampered by massive stadium debt we were now going to go head to head with the big boys. It hasn’t quite worked out but that’s another story.
I have written before that the De Bruyne and Sterling transfers to Man City were game changers. Both players were talented but hardly world class, they commanded massive transfer fees and equally massive wages. Their transfers changed the landscape. Along came Man Utd and effectively blew most of the other clubs out of the water by paying £86m for Pogba, plus jaw dropping wages of £290,000 per week. All this for a player who looks a very good prospect but what they were paying for essentially was potential. He is good, only 23 but he isn’t Messi.
This is where it gets interesting if you are an Arsenal fan. Our two top players Sanchez and Ozil have won plenty of trophies between them and by many people’s standards could arguably be classified as world class. However they are on pauper’s wages in the grand scheme of things, a piddling £140,000 per week and unfortunately for Arsenal their contracts are running down. I am sure Wenger must be fully aware that the situation is potentially catastrophic for the club. It led him recently to deliver a ridiculous sermon about ‘other factors’ being equally or more important than money when signing a contract. He has recently chipped in with another diatribe against Chinese money. What he knows but couldn’t say was that the desire for financial parity is an issue of player respect and has everything to do with money. I don’t suspect that either Ozil or Sanchez need the money but they sure as hell aren’t going to be paid substantially less than a player who they may feel is not their equal.
We aren’t privy to the details and shenanigans that surround salary and contract negotiation but from where I stand Arsenal are playing with a terrible hand. Over the last few seasons they have countered fan unrest and disillusionment by spinning a line that we are now ‘right in the mix’ without delivering any discernable improvement in results. The purchase of Sanchez and Ozil were supposed to be examples of the new found ambition. The current contract negotiations are going to put this to the test big time. In one way Arsenal are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. Scenario one is they decide to pay up to keep these two players but more importantly convey the message to fans and investors that we are indeed mixing it with the big boys. The downside is that it will shatter the wage structure in the club, massively raise the wage bill and have all the other players banging on the door for a slice of the pie. Last but not least there won’t be so much in the pot for Stan to borrow against. Scenario two is that we sell them. Financially that may make sense in the short term but what message will this send to fans and investors. Does it mean we go back to the old days of selling our best players, unable to buy top players and realistically out of contention?
My view is that the club will fudge the issue in predictable fashion. They will sell one and keep the other. With top strikers costing a minimum of £60m it would make sense to sell Ozil especially after his awful recent performances and keep Sanchez. However Sanchez is more in demand, more ambitious and may have more takers. Watch this space!
