Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger will spend sponsorship cash 'in the right way'

27 November 2012 15:47

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has vowed that the club will spend their new 150 million pound sponsorship cash from Emirates 'in the right way'.

The Gunners head to Everton on Wednesday looking to close up on the top four of the Barclays Premier League. Despite not having won a trophy since the 2005 FA Cup, the Arsenal brand remains strong and long-term partners Emirates Airlines last week agreed a lucrative sponsorship extension which will earn the club around £30million a year.

Some of that revenue has been frontloaded to come in the current financial year and so increase Wenger's summer transfer budget, which has already been boosted by the £24million sale of Robin van Persie. "If we get that amount of money from sponsors it is not charity, it is because the sponsors feel that we act in the right way and with the right values. They reward that," Wenger said.

"Afterwards it is down to us to spend the money in the right way. There are two aspects to any deal; one is the transfer [fee] and the other is the wages.

"The transfers for these kinds of players are not at £30million today, they are at £50million or £60million and what has gone through the roof is the wages of these players.

"That is why people plead for financial fair play. Some clubs even pleaded that the new television money (for Premier League clubs) should not be used to increase wages because it gives huge problems to everybody."

Wenger is likely to move for a forward when the January transfer window opens, with a short-term loan move for Thierry Henry remaining a possibility and Crystal Palace's promising youngster Wilfried Zaha described as "not more on the list than anybody else".

As always, Wenger stressed any new addition must bring added value to the group.

"If we find the real top, top, top player then we will be on the market," he added. "We have no fixed number, we look just at quality.

"We have a good squad, I believe that these players have a fantastic attitude. They deserve success and they will have success."

Source: PA