Arsene Wenger believes that Arsenal will be able to challenge Manchester United for the Premier League title if they make two or three signings before the close of the transfer window.
Accepting that Sir Alex Ferguson’s side have started with more vigour than usual and maintaining that they are the outright favourites for the season ahead, the Frenchman stressed that he still had utmost confidence in his own young squad to be a competitive force on the domestic scene.
“They [United] have regenerated quite well compared to last year. There are still some good, experienced weapons on the bench.
“Last Monday [against Spurs] when they made the changes there was still Berbatov and Giggs coming on, Carrick and Park. I would not be surprised if all these players start against us.
“They are the favourites because they won it last year and do not look weaker. It’s up to us to make sure they do not win it.
“I try to strengthen the squad in depth because at the moment we are a bit short numbers wise. If we get two or three players in, we have the quality to challenge them.
Asked if he was worried about the clock counting down on the transfer window, Wenger, who also expressed a specific desire to sign a striker, confirmed it was an unavoidable concern:
“Am I anxious? Yes, because I want to do it [make signings]. I am confident as well because we have some good young players who can make a step up very quickly.
One player who looks unlikely to be a member of the Gunners squad in the near future is 19-year-old Costa Rican striker Joel Campbell. Although the teenager has represented his national team at both youth and full level Wenger confirmed he has yet to seal the necessary paperwork which would allow him to play in England:
“We don’t have a work permit for Joel Campbell at the moment and we’re not in the position where we know if we’ll get one.”
We need at least 18 more signings, not two or three. 8 new strikers, 3 goalies and the rest in left wing. If we get all these positions covered, i genuinely believe the title will be ours
This is an unfair comment considering the fact that we still hav players like RvP, szezzny, Vermerlin and wilshere. We might need a new coach in my opinion
New coach? Cmon man, everybody knows we need a new blue whale.
And blimps, lots and lots of blimps.
And 17 new managers.
Wasn’t Campbell supposed to have an Irish grandmother or something? I guess not.
Why is it so hard to sign players? The cahill things is a mess and sums up wengers inadequacy in the transfer market. Amazed we didn’t go for Parker
parker is a slightly above average player. we don’t need any more of those. he’s good but i don’t think he’s good enough.
I think all of that fiasco is media bullshit and little-man-syndrome teams going apeshit when some of Arsenal’s limelight falls on them.
Arsene could go after Jesus H Christ, Himself, but if Arsene doesn’t have a transfer policy to support paying “Son of God”-level salary and “Messiah”-level transfer fees, he’s stuck with with looking for players that can’t make the All-Apostle team.
Pension of the manager, sack the board, import the whole of the man utd first 11, get the sheikhs in,and do the sheikh n’ vac
I don’t think we can do any of that, except importing the whole of the ManUtd 11 on Fifa 08
we need cahill and / or mertersacker, parker and hazard, baines would be nice too, no doubt we will end up with none barring a couple more 19y French mugs, that cunt us off 3 years later, through their gammy teeth
DON’T GET TOO EXCITED: Wenger today on Arsenal.com: “There is a chance [we could make no signings] because again we are dependent on the desire of the people who have the players to sell the players.” I think he’s trying to break it to us gently… the tight prick…
No, he was asked ‘Is there a chance you might not sign anyone’, he answered the question.
Far more telling that he says he wants to buy. Don’t focus on an out of context soundbite
And typical of the quality of the official site to have an out of context soundbite on it!
@perrygrovesworld : Don’t f**K around and say typical and bad stuff about our official website……It has won many sport and website awards………..It was neither out of context,,,,,, what Wenger says is he does not want that to happen but he won’t bet his life on it because football like life is unpredictable unless you have luck….
What a waste of time campbell another player well for ever be on loan and we never see play .
We won’t sign cahill now wengers really pissed them off. He gas completely lost it. We don’t have a midfield for Sunday ! Shocking mis management.
Also why us he trying to so loan deals luchio, kaka. What an idiot
He’s not, you mongoloid.
Mongoloid what a great 70’s bitch slap
The media wants you to feel this way, they’re stirring the pot.
if we get three players by wednesday, it’ll be a wenger miracle.
Easy everyone. @peniscolada – thanks for being a shitty troll. Are you a spunk fan or utd or maybe shitty? Yes we need players or its going to be a bumpy season. Yes we know AW can be more tight fisted that the yid army over a cup of tea. But there is no way sitting a bitching about it or continually typing “Na$ri is a cunt..” though it does feel damn good to do so. fucking cunt. anyway I was going somewhere with this. right. Na$ri is a cunt. I would rather not spend $25 mil for cahil, because… Read more »
You’re right, Na$ri is a cunt.
I’m glad thats what you got out of that. Not as eloquent as SG_Gunner, but I try.
How does saying that make me a troll? Please explain. Firstly, we do need strikers… am i wrong? Secondly, we do need some more wingers, just so we can make a whole team of wingers…. which obviously will win against any team they come across. That’s clearly what Wenger seems to think with his latest purchases. After that though. Yeah pretty sure if we offered $17 million for Cahill, Bolton would turn us down. Maybe we should wait for the exchange rate to move back up a bit first so we our moneys worth. Or… alternatively we could just offer… Read more »
Why do we care how much they spend – Personally couldn’t give a fuck if we saw the right player for £100m – makes no odds as the clubs has it and it aint gonna break us? Either the board put their money where their mouth is, or we finish in a worst position than last year. Simples.
Canal Plus reporting that Hazard has agreed terms but Lille rejected a 30 mill bid.
Similarly, Italian papers are saying that a 40 mill bid for Sneijder is on the cards.
I don’t know what to believe anymore though.
Please we are the fucking wall mart of football 40 million there is no way in hell the pricks in charge will allow that so sit back and get ready for some prick on a free
Reading all the above comments here makes me wonder if we Arsenal fans are so desperate for success that we believe every little trash printed as gospel. 1. Cahill is not worth $17mil. Clichy with much better experience and younger went for $7mil. He was on his last year like Cahill. He had much more European and international experience and was sold for fair price. Fact is Bolton want to cash in on Cahill and are using tabloid trash to put pressure on Arsenal. Our current CBs are great. We need good backup for them which is our weakness. Wenger… Read more »
Well said. On all three points. Good to have some semblance of sanity round these parts …
Reasoned perspective. Nice.
well said! i’m tired of the hysteria at this stage. people need to realise we are not in a position to compete with the silly money being paid out on transfers and wages by city, chelski and united. we are 4th or lower in the financial stakes so finishing anywhere above 4th in the league is success, and don’t forget we have qualified 14 years in a row for the CL group stage and play some of the best football on display anywhere. despite all the disadvantages, the foundations are being laid (new stadium, training facilities, investment in great young… Read more »
Well said come on you gunners na£ri is a cunt
Best. Comment. EVER.
Fucking well said mate. Especially point no. 3 about citeh. Aint it great to know that although we’re supposedly in such a bad way that our rivals still apparently fear us enough to be so intent on de-stabilising us?
Respect! wish more people thought like you!
‘They have regenerated quite well since last season’. Well, they frankly had to after not performing well in the league and… Oh.
Since when did we start bidding for players in dollars – British pounds would do it!! 😉
We will not sign anyone. End of story.
“If we get two or three players in, we have the quality to challenge them.”
This is a big change of tune for Arsene. I wonder what happened?
I guess the benefit of Wenger confusing the hell out of all of us is that he’s also confusing the hell out of selling clubs.
to quote “This shit’s chess, it ain’t checkers!”
Why does every one believe what the papers say ??? I feel like Bolton are trying to start a bidding war and I also feel that our offer was worth alot more than 6 million. I could see a offer of six million b52 to keep and a player or two on season long loans
SG_GUNNER. Can I ask, how long did it take you to write that comment?
Personally, I’d be very surprised if we made 2-3 signings. It depends who they are mind.
SPEND, SPEND, SPEND
SPEND
THE
FUCKING
MONEY
Nuff said… Don’t think for a second that CL qualification lets you off the hook.
Theres no excuse to NOT add to the squad Wenger!
There is no way Wenger won’t buy before Wed – it’s just a matter of who. I would rather see him break the bank on a top, top class stricker than waste money on Cahill
Well said Alex about time wenger stepped up with the others spend the money
I am a Wenger fan, however, doesn’t he realise that Manure have got better this year because that rosey nosed, mental Scottish cuntoid Ferguson saw the needs in his team and sorted it immediately as opposed to waiting till a week left. Well played!
If he makes 3 decent signings before window shuts, all is forgiven.
We should raid the fuck out of Everton, they’re skint!
That’s the spirit! Let’s raid their camp and steal all their jewels!
Would absolutely love to see Baines, Jagielka or Arteta at Arsenal, but got a feeling they’re not gonna sell because they’ve just got no depth whatsoever. having said that they’re short on cash, so hopefully that can override the depth problem
I really don’t know why Wenger has taken so long in the transfer market, maybe it was to get the best price for Fab and Nasri, because if we bought first Barca and ManShitty would know we had to sell. Anyway, pretty much gross incompetence, as mentioned elsewhere.
I do wonder if Bendtner is going as part of deal, Wenger seems pertty sure he will go. Is Everton looking for a striker? Lille?
lille have just bought a striker, a Korean talent from Monaco.
Wenger’s not that demented. We nearly won the Carling Cup last year with the team we had. No Cesc for that. Cesc was out for a large portion of the season as well. I can forgive him for thinking that we can win the premier league without him, as we nearly did last year. The only replacement in his eyes would be for Nasri, as he was highly influential and came up with the goods in the first half of the season. I think the lack of a replacement for Clichy is down to thinking that he’s held on to… Read more »
total agreement here. one more creative midfielder and a “fox in the box” are all we need to have a good old challenge this year IMHO… even without any signings i still fancy us to finish in the top four and surprise a lot of people along the way… the ude game showed the biggest thing we have been lacking is a bit of confidence. it makes all the difference…
I also think this comment is spot on. Arsenal need creative midfield players (although I am at a loss to think of any easily available ones, maybe Hazard moved to the center?). It also makes me wonder about M’villa, why would we need another DM with Song and Frimpong? Arsenal also need a top quality striker as backup/competition for RVP, or as a impact sub. I would just add that a left back would be good. I would like to belive in Gibbs, but he has been injured ot much and it is a big gamble. If the rumors of… Read more »
Well said, the press have a lot to answer for you would have thought we had 11 donkeys playing for us before the udi game that we were never going to win!!! Smashed em looked great doing it too, they aren’t mugs especially in there own back yard! We still have a first 11 that can beat anyone on it’s day but it will not last a season so equal back ups are required if we can get super quality on top all the better but duck the press don’t listen to em.
Nasri isn’t a cunt
Whoops typo fuck the press and nasri is a massive dripping yeast infected cunny! Of the highest order x
What scares me is that we don’t become a “feeder” club, whose to say Gervinho (sp) won’t light up the EPL this season then next summer the money bag clubs won’t pry him loose from Arsenal.. It also scares me with Oxnard Chamberpot, Theo, and Jack W., now that is what scares me. I mean we find Na$ri at Marseille we bring him here, now he was a decent player for them, but under Arsene he progresses into a great little player, then poof off to a money driven club…..That is what I don’t want Arsenal to turn into, I… Read more »
To say other clubs don’t loose there big names would be naive. The only reason I believe that you are concerened about the possibility of the likes of jack and Theo going, is because we’ve lost two big name players in recent weeks. One of which was always going to leave for his boy hood club, and the other would have left even if we won the treble last season, just to fill his pockets. Wenger seems to be a victim if his own success, without him, I highly doubt any one could have done half of what he has… Read more »
I, for one, rather think we need 4-5 new signings. Greatest need is a left-back, and one that has no history of frequent injury. Also, another center-back, a striker, a creative midfielder, and a holding/defensive midfielder. Regarding acquiring another holding/defensive; we might play upwards of 60 games this year and I don’t see only Frimpong and Song lasting for the duration. Hell, after two prem games the two have produced a red card and a FA misconduct charge for a cynical stamp. And I do believe, please correct me if I’m wrong here, the ANC occurs this season. Both could… Read more »
Why do I get the idea that Wenger will make offers for players knowing they will not be taken seriously but will keep supporters quite because he hopes we will think he is trying hard to bring in what we need
No chance, he would never waste his time like that.
I disagree, Wenger has seemed to dick about in the transfer market as recently as last summer. Compare Arsenal’s transfer dealings with that of ManU, ManC, Liverpool, Chelsea, hell, even Sunderland.
Who cares let’s just dick man ure!!!
We won’t sign a world class player until we convince the board to change the wage structure! Need to stop shelling out massive wages on players like Diaby Bendtner and youth players who are never going to make it!
Look at our wage bill compared to the big 4 man ure, Ckelski, Shitty and Scousers
why doesn’t wenger sign that moussa sow or whatever his name is off lille then he can play up top with gervinho hair and rvp and he is powerful and a prolific goalscorer i think !!!! spend some fucccckking money, im having a go at the board more than wenger i think ? bender out sow in and get mvila or hazard and cahill or dann and we could possibly challenge for some sort of trophy 🙂
Fark me. Can’t u fair weather fans just be happy that Wegner is actually coming out saying we need 2-3 players! This is showing his intent for once. The things u have been whinging about!
Either get back on the Arsenal bus or fark off and support spurs.
Fair-weather fans lol because some people think this whole pre season has been a joke and that we were only a few good signings away from winning things for the last five years or so or because all our rivals have strengthened yet again while we sell our top players. Get real mate if arsene signs a few great if he don’t what then a season of Fu king shite thats what. it may not be Arsenes fault it could be the board but i no one thing for sure it ain’t the fans to blame yet we are the… Read more »
One last thing. Arsene says the potracted transfers of cesc and horse face have taken weeks because of the other clubs dragging there feet, why the fuck does he think we can then get our business done in 5 days eh someone is talking bolox here. He wont sign any big players i just can’t see it. This whole thing stinks and i really can’t understand why we have left it so late. Something just ain’t right.
Let’s look at a couple of facts. Man Shitty and CHelski can afford any one. Man Ure are almost a billion £s in debt and will come unstuck. We can never compete against this. When plans for the Emirates were drawn up it was just us and Man Ure no one knew money was coming to the other 2. So we can never compete financially with the top 3. We could spend 30 million on a player but those players demand over 170 grand a week. Never gonna happen and to be honest I’m glad we don’t. I think we… Read more »
Cos he’s fucking shit thats why. And spurs or Liverpool will get Cahill he definately Wont be at bolton come Wednesday don’t be silly
what’s the big f*ckin deal with cahill anyway? he plays for bolton for chrissake! koscielny is a better player than him and more suited to the way we play too… should we sign him just so he can sit on the bench??
And no we can’t compete financially with city or Chelsea but having sold 60 million quids worth of talent and not even buying proven quality replacements ie Cahill hazard etc etc we ain’t even giving ourselves a chance to standstill let alone compete. All we have done is banked the money put up our prices, surrendered and mugged the fans off.
the transfer window isn’t over yet. just listen to what a negative whiny little twat you sound like…
If we picked up Sneijder I think I’d shit myself and have to rename my son Arsene. It’s fun to dream right?
sneider blows hot and cold and there’s no way we could (or should) pay the kind of wages he will demand. replacing fab4 sure ain’t gonna be easy. would love to see rosicky have an injury free run and claim the spot for himself. he is as good as anyone on his day. before he got that injury he was one of the top creative midfielders in europe…
“Rosicky is as as good as anyone on his day”.
There’s optimism, then there’s this. I’m actually quietly optimistic about the next few days (I don’t know why) but come on with this comment.
Keyboard warrior eh Billy bet you incite riots from your caravan too. It’s about opinions Billy no need for abuse mate
Ohhhh! Good thing I read the article because by the headline I thought maybe he just wanted everyone to have a nose job and some Botox.
why does he keep saying these things and then does nothing about it? im starting to beleive that he wants to buy but the board aint letting have any cash.
We will all be staring at sky sports news on Wednesday, waiting, hoping, daring to imagine some signings. I fear it will be just like all the others though…. Nothing.
KAKA AND RAMSEY…back to winning ways!!!keep bidding for cahill until poor bolton give up!!KAKA AND CAHILL AMUST FOR WINNING MENTALITY
out: nicklas 9£
in:kaka 18£
cahill 9.7£ (excluding wages for both)
still have half a billion left…let arsene do whatever he wants
honda,marin,zarate,hazard,m’villa,scott dann
It’s quite simple.. Arsene will tell us they are working hard to sign players but we all know it won’t happen!
Talking shit talking shit that’s what the transfer window means for arsenal and when the profit reports come out arsenal will be top WOO HOO
[…] he was targeting three players. He reckons that, while we have a good squad, the extra depth should help us compete with United. Good times. Nothing like competing to excite […]
[…] all I have heard for now. Wenger has spoken the need for at least 2-3 players, and understand they are necessary to compete with Manchester United for the title. Let’s not […]
my fellow gooners, lets be honest and stop hoping wenger will sign a big name to the squad. wenger simply wouldnt. he hasnt done it throughout his manager career and isnt going to do it anytime in the future. its funny how wenger said he will sign a player for 30mil-50mil if hes the right quality but its just a lie to himself and fans. no1 in wengers eyes is worth that much apart from our own players (and maybe unattainable players like messi or ronaldo).