• Premier League

Arsenal can compete with big spenders - Kroenke

ESPN staff
November 1, 2011
Stan Kroenke speaks at the Arsenal AGM © Getty Images
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Arsenal majority shareholder Stan Kroenke insists the Gunners can contend with the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City in attracting big-name players to the club.

The Gunners endured a difficult summer, losing key midfielders Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri to Barcelona and Manchester City respectively. Arsenal subsequently missed out on a replacement in the form of Juan Mata, who joined rivals Chelsea, but Kroenke maintains it was not for a lack of funds available to manager Arsene Wenger. The American believes the philosophy of the club dictates the Gunners' transfer activity, rather than any budget restrictions.

"Sometimes you can overspend for the wrong assets and you end up shorter in the long run," he said. "I think that you want to be sure that you want to spend the money and I think that's what our manager does. He makes that evaluation. That's his job. It wasn't because the money wasn't there. We have money.

"I think this club is run a certain way and I think people are proud of the way it's run. And I think our fans are proud of the way it's run. The club has no debt now, because the cash resources exceed the amount of debt that's on the team."

Of the high-profile departures of Nasri and Fabregas, Kroenke insists Fabregas' return to Barcelona had "nothing to do with money", while the Nasri deal was about "being smart".

"That's where being smart and not being smart comes in," he said. "You've got one year left on a player's contract. You've got a large sum of money being offered. Can you employ those resources better than you could had you not taken the money, taken a chance on losing the guy for nothing in a year or perhaps overpaying for him now and having less resources later?"

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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