CASH-STRAPPED: Arsenal Need To Find Money From Somewhere

Socceruncle | Jan. 22, 2019

Nigel Winterburn has warned that progress will not be made in north London unless the club are prepared to match the spending of Premier League rivals

Arsenal “have to find some money from somewhere”, says Nigel Winterburn, as becoming a “self-funding club” is not a recipe for success.

A frugal approach to recruitment has been favoured at Emirates Stadium for some time.

Arsene Wenger was happy to play by those rules during his 22-year tenure and faced regular rounds of criticism for relaxing that stance all too infrequently.

His successor, Unai Emery, has been placed into a similar position somewhat against his will.

The Spaniard has been made aware that only loan moves can be made in the January transfer window, at a point in the season when big-spending rivals are prepared to invest again if required.

Winterburn has questioned the logic of adopting such a stance, with the former Gunners defender telling Love Sport Radio: “Obviously, I don't know the nitty gritty runnings of the football club but looking from the outside it almost seems to me that Arsenal want to be a self-funding club, and I'm thinking that if we want to get back to challenging Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United - who are going to spend more money, and Chelsea who will probably spend again - then we're going to have to find some money from somewhere.

“But we're going to find ourselves in this frustrating period where we've made some progression but we're still a way off challenging for the title again.”

He added: “Is the money there? That's the question we want to know because if you hear from the manager that we can only get a loan signing in January then that doesn't suggest to me that there is lots of money around unless what they're saying is January is not the right time to go out and buy, let's see what happens and we'll be back in the market for the start of next season.

“I could understand that. That would make sense. But we're not hearing that. It's a guessing game with Arsenal and we'll just have to wait and see.”

Arsenal have fared admirably under a new coaching regime this season to keep themselves in contention for a top-four finish.

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