I don't know how long I've been telling people transfer fee's are the SMALLEST part of the cost of a player and wages are what everythings about. Again look at UTD, los Ronaldo get huge fee, don't buy, shift 2-3 senior players freeing up huge amount of wage funds, buy like theres no tomorrow.
As for Arsenal's youth team, again I've been saying for nigh on 10 years, our youth team is a joke, Randall was clear as day 7 years ago never, ever going to play for Arsenals first team, we've probably handed him 3-4mil in wages over 7 years, and we just finally released him this summer. The Hoytes, etc, Lansbury MIGHT just make some impact but he's likely to be more of a Bentley not good enough so after years of paying him too much, more than he'd make anywhere else we'll sell him for next to nothing.
Almost every one of our first team players who are young, are bought from 18-21 and put straight in the first team, on higher wages than anyone else in the league at the same age(mostly but not always).
You need to ignore transfer fee's, it means little, wage spending Arsenal have been VERY solidly in the top 4 every season for a decade, and as such finishing in the top 4 should be assured, Wenger hasn't been doing well he's been doing exactly what you'd expect for Arsenal.
From what I can recall, we've basically had Ashley Cole and Wilshire come through our youth team into the first team, but we pay an extraordinary amount on our youth team, almost all completely wasted.]
We don't need a centre forward who will score with his head, we need a manager willing to actually put one of our two strikers like that on the pitch. 4-4-2 does not work, in any way shape or form, for this team.
Arshavin at left wing, he's more naturally a central player but he's been more than fine at left back. He got 18 odd assists in all comps and was suffering from being in and out of the team a lot of the year, thats what you want from a winger, not 10 goals and 1 assist.
Arshavin had a bad season, for him, and got 6 goals/18 assists, that basically puts him as the 3rd best player in the team last year behind Fabregas and RVP.
To win things Arsenal need, with CLichy, Fabregas and Nasri gone, a left back, a right back, a centre back, a defensive mid, a uber creative midfield/playmaker, a right winger, a left winger. Denilson, Diaby, Sagna, Song, Squillaci, Chamakh to be sold, and a replacement player for each of them. yay.
Fabregas has been covering so many glaring gaps in quality in the squad for so long, without him our attack will fall apart as it currently is, and our defence is already meh.
