Arsene Wenger insists he did not lie to the press about Danny Welbeck’s injury status despite the striker undergoing surgery just days after an imminent return to action had been hinted.
On 27 August, two days before Arsenal played Newcastle United, the boss remarked that, “Danny Welbeck is progressing well. He should be available, if all goes well, after the international break.”
Within a week – and just 24 hours after the transfer window closed – it was confirmed by the club that the England international had undergone surgery on the knee problem that has kept him sidelined since April. The 24-year-old isn’t expected to return until after Christmas and could be out as long as six months.
Clearly irked by the suggestion he’d deliberately misled media in his last press conference, the boss stressed that he only received the bad news about the ex-United forward later that day and that injuries to his squad didn’t change the fact he couldn’t source a player he actually wanted to purchase.
“It doesn’t change anything. You either find someone who strengthens your squad or not. Whether we have players injured or no doesn’t change the problem, that’s what I don’t understand from the media.
“I am surprised that people accused me of lying when I was in the press conference on Friday morning, [at that point] I did not know Welbeck had a bad setback. I did not lie to you, I gave you the information I had.”
Asked whether he’d come close to signing anybody as a replacement, Wenger continued: “I have made more than 300 transfers and every time it’s a decision to make. Do you buy the player because he strengthens his squad or not?
“The solutions we had were not convincing at all. In the end you do not buy to give one hope, you want to buy because the players who come in can help your squad to be stronger. Buying and selling is one way to strengthen your team but that’s not the only way.”
He added: “There is no need to talk about that too much now. We have to focus on what is in front of us.
“I said to you, and I didn’t lie, that we were ready to do something, but you have to be convinced that it’s not just to please people, that it [has to be] an efficient solution. And the efficient solution didn’t turn up. As well you have to be brave enough to say no.”
In a message to supporters still miffed by the fact he didn’t purchase an outfield player this summer, Wenger bullishly called on fans to back the existing squad.
“I think as well to support the club and support the team is to stand behind the players. It is not always expecting someone coming… to sort out all your problems. Support is believing in the players in the squad and this is a good opportunity to do that.”
The irony of the media accusing Wenger of lying.
Irony can be very ironic sometimes
Wenger,lie about player’s injury??….nah!..he can be just..err…”economical” a tad with the truth sometimes
Does “Brave enough to say no” mean he turned down the chance to buy Benzema for ,say €100m I wonder?
Not a chance, if REal M wanted to sell benzema we would bought him for similar price we paid for ozil, nither benzema cavani or higuain were available, and as much as i hate that we didn’t buy anyone I’m with wenger on this one we need world class forward not just any striker that can’t add more than we have with giroud. But wenger could have bought shinderlin he was available and would have been great addition to the squad on that front I don’t agree but for the stirker I’m 100% with wenger.
I am asking for opinions on what Arsene meant when he said ,and I quote ” As well you have to be brave enough to say no ”
Do you not think that he would have been offered a player or two at prices that Wenger sees as inflated ? Can you not imagine that Real would have given us a price on Benzema? Of course they would have done….I’m not suggesting for one minute we should cough up €100m for him but to suggest that a price was not quoted for him is naive in my opinion.
What an uninteresting point…
Disagree. In the context of everything else he said, I’d say he was talking more about saying no to a purchase purely to show he had bought someone (anyone?). An act that might have appeased people, but not actually improved the squad in any significant way, As far as Benzema goes, the central theme this summer has been the lack of striking talent. Madrid could have sold him to us, but looking at their squad they’d need a top quality new striker. Who? The obvious choice would be Cavani. But if PSG sold him, looking at their squad they would… Read more »
I have to wonder what would have happened if we had put in a £50 million bid for Kane.
On the one hand, if they’d accepted it, the dormant volcano under White Hart Lane would probably have erupted.
On the other hand, if they turned it down, at least the Arsenal board could point out that they’d tried to buy a decent striker from a small club for an inflated fee.
PS Levy’s transfer dealings are so short sighted, I suspect they’d have sold at £75 million! No way is Kane worth that though.
Hahahaa I love the accurate comment re “from a small club”.
Well said Rufusstan, and can’t we all just move on ffs? Yawn….
Hey,Schneiderlin. Come to Arsenal to fight it out with Coquelin, or come to ManU and be an automatic starter for more money. What do you think?
Yet another fan who has never heard of Viera and Petit I presume.
Do you mean to play both Coquelin and Schneiderlin? Then where can Cazorla, Wilshere, Ramsey play? What of the future for the youngsters like Zelalem? And are you really thinking Schneiderlin+Coquelin=Viera+Petit, but somehow Wenger fails to see it?
I’m a huge Wenger fan so don’t take this as an attack on the guy. But bravery has nothing to do with not signing a decent DM for 10 years. Everybody bemoans the lack of a world class striker but at least he’s tried to fill that void. Giroud, Podolski, Sanogo, Chamakh all came, with varying levels of success, with the intention of becoming our new talisman. But he hasn’t signed a specialist DM for as long as I can remember apart from Flamini who was always going to be a bit part player. We’ve lucked out with Coquelin being… Read more »
Well he should be expected to play 50+ games if not injured. That’s his job. In the event he does get injured, we have Arteta, Flamini, or maybe Hayden or Chambers to fill in the short-term.
If he got injured for 6 months, then different story. But should you really buy a £20-25m player in order to cover that small probability?
And you might’ve just jinxed it.
Heh. True. I forgot this is Arsenal.
Well it’s not just injury. He’s been playing at the top of his game since his inclusion but he’s a young lad and is bound to have a dip in form/confidence at some stage especially given he has no real competition for his place. I feel sometimes smart arse, your name betrays you.
Absolutely, and for at least the last decade the champions have been the club with the best squad not just the best first 11
Why does a civilised debate need to end in a personal jibe?
I suffer from severe erectile disfunction and as a result over compensate on football forums to claw back a little dignity from an otherwise humiliating and degrading existence.
Hahahaaaa are you guys twins? Lol
You have to stand up for something, Mein Bergkampf.
From his perspective, it makes sense when he has no faith in the Coq being able to stay healthy for a sustained period of time.
Wanyama for example could have been brought in to play that bit part role for a relatively nominal fee. On the flip side, why not buy a player in the DM position similar quality to Coq?
Personally I am truly bored with the whole Benzema saga, non story. Move on, get over it and get behind our team! COYG…..
Fucking yay, well said Arsene!!
So still questions about transfrs and conspiracies from these dipshits? If only they read arseblog they mightve been more informed. Do these journalists even watch football?
Journalist needs to be a very broad term to include some of these guys. Many are interested less about reporting the facts than telling a story.
Worse, reading or giving any weight to what they say only encourages them to print more bollocks.
I know nothing of medical practises. But find it frustrating then, that the lay-off period can jump from days to months within a heartbeat. Surely as proffesionals, some level of foresight could account for this?
Correct. You know nothing of medical practices. So I’m here to tell you that the problems Arsenal are having stem directly from a shortage of Serbian medicinal horse placentas.
All the needy, entitled Arsenal fans need to STFU and COYG!
I said the same thing last week, slightly more eloquently than you did but the sentiment is there.
They need to support the team, not cry out for other teams players to join us because their FIFA/Football Manager team will be stale otherwise.
wish he’d have pulled his troll face and said “I didn’t say *which* international break he’d return after, though”
Haha whilst wearing a t-shirt with the ‘There is no need to be upset’ Wenger meme on it
Sometimes I really do wonder why Wenger does the job he does. Really is a thankless task.
The shit he has to put up with, with dumbass and unfounded accusations on a frequent basis from people who just wish to shit-stir amongst the fans.
In Arsene I trust anyway. Fuck the rest.
I’m a fan of Wenger and don’t want him out. But “thankless task”? Are you aware of his salary?
I would want double just to put up with that cunt from Sky and his inept questions.
He is 66, mate. You think people work for salary at that age? Money motivates you only to a certain stage in your life. And I definitely don’t think that he is someone who would take money as a token of thanks.
No matter how much money you earn, you can only eat three meals a day and sleep in one bed – Arsene Wenger
Why not do it for less than current 8m then?
If he doesnt care about money and purely in it for love of the game he should donate it all or build an emergency shelter for all the Syrian refugees. I havent heard of his philanthropy prove maybe it exists
Wenger is either the most intelligent manager across Europe or he is winging it again. I hope the small squad and knowledge of the individuals games does tie us together and produce, but to be the only team from Europe’s top teams not to sign an outfield player is odd. I wonder if there is another chapter in here for Arsenes biography when he does finally take his bow. So hope he tells all, most importantly what the heck was the Park signing abt?
It was to strengthen us obviously. Are you dating to doubt the great man? ?
Daring.
Just been reading about how arsenal were going bankrupt during our most successful period on the pitch the invincible season. How wenger stuck with us during those hard times even after real Madrid coming after him. Hate him or love him we are sure lucky to have him and he deserves a lot more respect than some of us give him coz probably without him we would have gone the way of Leeds
where did you read this?? link??
Daily Mirror I think it is.
He only said “a period of months” which could mean a period of months.
“This guy did not read the article before commenting”; guilty as charged.
I simply don’t agree with this nonsense about only buying players who would improve the squad. Those types of players are generally unavailable and cost fortunes, but what about buying a player and improving him? We did that with Henry, Vieira, Freddie, Anelka, Pires and many others. We took a punt on these guys and they came through for us – why cant we do that any more? Has Wenger lost his touch or his bottle to do these types of deals?
I think we are in the process of trying to achieve this with the young players we have (Ox, Bellerin ect) you can only have so many “improving” players in the 1st team sqaud if you want to win titles
Unless you are Chelsea and buy all the world’s young players and then loan them all out to teams that might theoretically play Arsenal or Man City this season in any competition.
I think the fact Martial was bought for 60m or whatever it was and the fact Wenger keeps banging on the fact that these players dont exist anymore, suggests, hey maybe, these players dont exist anymore? and we have Ramsey, Ox, Bellerin, Gibbs, Chambers etc, all young and players with potential to be as good as those guys. (Yes Ramsey is still young believe it or not)
Martial was bought for £36m and United have an income of £433m in the last year, so his cost is less than 9% of income.
Arsenal bought Thierry Henry for £11m when we had an income of £48m, so he represented about 24% of income. So when factoring in inflation Martial is less than half the price in real terms to Henry, and both represent a similar level of gamble.
The prices of players has changed, there cost in relation to income has not, in fact they might be going down.
Great point, well made. The ‘market’ is also what (the hell) it is. Arsene can’t dictate this. Martial is also the most extreme outlier is a whacky transfer window. Hundreds and hundreds of players were transfered/loaned across Europe in deals that bore no resemblence to the Martial deal. Further to your excellent point, hnery was a club record signing at the time that did not see well with one and all as English football was largely unaware of Henry’s potential. Its a gamble for United, Martial was ludicrously exensive, but, he was affordable from their prospective. There were countless players… Read more »
Absolutely, when Wenger talks of value he’s really talking about price. He’s the man who bought Gervinho for £11m when he could have bought Hazard for £30m from the same club, and it was clear to all and sundry that Hazard was going to be a superstar. By any measure Hazard at £30m was better value than Gervinho at £11m, in the same way than Ronaldo at £80m is better value than Sanogo on a free. In my opinion the prices are now too fierce for Wenger to make real valued judgements on players, he’s scared buy the price, even… Read more »
by the price* not buy
Mind you, LVG MUST know Rooney is absolute shite nowadays so he had to buy somebody after deciding all his other strikers were worse than Rooney and then seeing the exact same striker availability problems that Wenger talks about. He was desperate and his signing of Martial shows it. We have a squad with some high-scoring forwards in it (yes, despite injuries both Giroud and Walcott scored well when they did play, and we have a healthy range of other goal-scorers in our team), so we really weren’t in so desperate circumstances as United. Wenger based his decisions on the… Read more »
But that is to ignore the talent resource we have in the under 21s, which I am sure Wenger is aware of and willing to wait for. Some are nearly ready/on the cusp of first team football.
This has been the case for a decade now.
For that he did indeed sign “Jeff”
The Jeff mate “The Jeff”.
Wenger really is a stubborn bastard.
But that’s just one reason why I love him.
So he’s saying he didn’t know about wellbz before the transfer deadline but even if he did he wouldn’t have bought anyone. I see what he did there covering all bases, he’s a wily old fella old Arsene, he’s got me doubting my own eyes and ears now.
Wenger has not won the champions league yet. So he could do the Mourinho and splash the cash at the risk of ruining the club’s financial future for personal glory and win it; or he could defect to real Real Madrid when they were putting together the galacticos with Zidane Ronaldo and consor. But he didn’t. Now there are two ways of seeing this: either he lacks of personal ambition or he truly loves this club and all decisions he makes is not for now but for the long term future, you chose. As for us fans, we love reading… Read more »
He hope he did lie. what he ought to do’s produce a gun from the inside of his Arsenal tracksuit top and fill a few of them with bullets. Hollow point at that. Across town, Giles Grimandi, strolls casually from Talksport, (Towers) and slips into the passenger seat of a waiting BMW. As the car pulls into the steady traffic, a massive explosion shakes the very ground. Glass and human debris begins raining down on the pavement. Later, fragments of l those two tossers Jason Cundy and the other one, along with patches of scalp covered in burnt, ginger hair… Read more »
I shouldn’t upvote this, but if it could all play out in slow motion, and narrated by ‘deep-voice film trailer man’, it would make the next transfer window (and the AGM) much more interesting.
Why does he have to lie again? he isn’t exactly shy about telling on the fact that he has not found good value (or efficiency) in the market. Opportunity cost. If he loads up with a sub standard solution now, he is less likely to be able to add a top end product if/when he comes on market in Jan or next summer. meanwhile he has 3 solutions in DM – Arteta and Flamini are far better players than most would deem them (particularly as second/third choice) In attack Giroud is a top ten in the world and there are… Read more »
wenger wasn’t lieing, it’s just that he didn’t see it!!?
So what’s the plan then? Are we just biding our time waiting for a player who is capable of improving the squad to become available? Is there a guarantee that when said mythical player does become available we won’t be outbid for him by one of the United/Chelsea/etc. teams that are willing to pay absurd amounts of money for no-names when Arsene is notoriously prudent when it comes to spending? It seems to me we need a better plan than banking on midfield players to step up and get more goals when our midfielders (as good as they are) are… Read more »
300, wow! that’s a lot
As is highly likely we don’t improve on last year and don’t mount a decent title challenge, what are the consequences of him failing with this group of players? If they are good enough is he not anymore?
Did Park Chu-young strengthen the squad when Wenger signed him?
I didn’t think so either.