• Premier League

Wenger: My work has been destroyed

ESPN staff
July 8, 2012
Arsene Wenger is set to lose captain Robin van Persie - possibly as early as this summer © Getty Images
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Arsene Wenger has insisted he has no plans to rework his philosophy and turn Arsenal into a big-spending club.

Arsenal's frugal approach is reportedly one of the major reasons behind Robin van Persie's decision to abort talks over a new contract. The Dutch striker, whose current deal expires in 2013, is concerned at a lack of ambition being shown by the Gunners.

Despite this, Wenger does not feel he needs to deviate from his current plan of action - modelling his team on Johan Cruyff's Ajax from the 1990s, which was built on a famed academy.

But Wenger also launched a thinly-veiled attack on those players who have chosen to desert his troops.

"I totally agree with Cruyff - and I won't change," Wenger is quoted as saying by the Sun. "The only sad thing is that sometimes your work is destroyed by others. You want to see a player in his prime doing it for your club. But it does not work like that all the time.

"I am a victim of that. I lost Samir Nasri, Gael Clichy and Cesc Fabregas at an age where they should have been playing their best football for Arsenal. But I never left the club when I could have. I could have left 10 times to join another club but I didn't because I have worked with the same vision and philosophy at Arsenal for the last 16 years - and that won't change.

"Besides, money was never a motivation for me. And, in a similar way, people like Cruyff don't put all their energy in building football teams with young players just for the money. We all do this because we want to give something back to football."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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