Profit before transfers. Confirmed.

[LDG]

So where does the extra revenue from ticket sales and sponsorship go? They should be used to balance books not using player sales. If we're that hard up that its a struggle to be self sustaining, then sort out the sponsorship side of it. Get rid of fringe players earning £70k a week. How can we possibly be poorer than before our stadium move. Weren't we self sustaining then as well?

Dunno. That's why I said "pure specualtion".

I was reading through an old set of accounts, post 2006 season, I think....and just looking at how they were presented. It is a hell of a lot more complicated that people think....and as I've always said, profit doesn't equal cash in the bank.

I'm sure there will be a lot of interest in this years accounts, and where it'll leave us going forward...but, again, we'll never know exactly what's going on, or indeed, financial plans going forward.

*sigh*

Comments like Arsene's one above are there for a reason. He's a clever bloke...but sometimes, leaving something dangling like that for fans to rip to pieces does more harm than good....

[Coney]

Well if we finish higher up the league, we get more money. I don't understand it really.

That's what doesn't make sense to me either. If we skimp on spending on players saving (say) 20 million and then because of that fail to get a top 4 spot, then we lose at least twice that - probably much more - in straight revenue from the CL as well as the gate money from all the extra matches. Further potential loss of shirt sales overseas in the long run if we are not seen as a top side. If what the Daily Heil says is true then the board are cretins.

Mind you "if what the Daily Heil says is true". Hmmh. Could be utter bollocks. Did they say how they know that he has a directive to make that profit in the transfer arena? Would Wenger have accepted such a contract? I find that hard to believe. Still, I find anything that the Daily Heil prints hard to believe full stop.

[Syn]

Thats because Man Utd gave him £250k a week. Would we do that?

Can't be that much, surely. But I do think Rooney made this play to try to get the best possible deal he could. I don't believe he ever intended to leave. We're in a similar position with Van Persie, I think. Van Persie's not going anywhere but he won't commit in order to get the best deal.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Does the article really tell us anything we did not already know though?.

[Power n Glory]

FIFA Fair Play rules, maybe??

[Coney]

Can't be that much, surely. But I do think Rooney made this play to try to get the best possible deal he could. I don't believe he ever intended to leave. We're in a similar position with Van Persie, I think. Van Persie's not going anywhere but he won't commit in order to get the best deal.

He would be stupid to do anything else. Top PL scorer? Should carry a premium. Especially at the Arsenal when the others can't hit an elephant's arse with a banjo.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

We wouldn't keep falling down the league if we made more signings of the type I'm proposing. Obviously if we slide down the table then you are at risk of players feeling better about moving to the league leaders because the top teams are no longer your rivals. You talk about losing to players to Man City - not one of them were English. But I accept that Clichy and Toure were as good as 'English' in the sense that they had been long-serving players but it was more our decision to get rid of them rather than them forcing a move. Nasri and Adebayor forced moves. And Nasri, in particular, was one of those highly-rated foreign youngsters that I'm saying we need to avoid. So I don't see the inconsistency.

Tottenham have got it right. They've got their core of predominantly British players - Bale, Walker, Lennon, Dawson and others, and mixed them in relatively established players in the squad. Their star young player is Bale. He's not going anywhere. I'm not against signing players like Modric because Modric isn't Cesc Fabregas - he's not one of the world's best central midfielders and never will be - but players like Modric would definitely improve us. And I think - with the current crop of future talent (Szczesny, Coquelin, Wilshere, Oxlade, Jenkinson, Ramsey, Gibbs) - we will get it right also. We just need not to throw them all in at once and need more solid signings like Arteta around them.

The English premium exists for a reason. There is sound statistical and theoretical thinking behind what I'm saying. Many people think clubs are crazy for paying over the odds for English players. They're not crazy. Statistically, they are much less likely to force moves. Not because they're inherently better people. But because they're more averse to a change in surroundings. Rooney hasn't even mastered English, how is he going to learn Spanish? British players are statistically more likely to stay by the club. Ronaldo did pissing off and Rooney and Rio are staying is not a surprise or a statistical anomaly. Cashley pissing off is a statistical anomaly. Henderson going for £20m or Chamberlain for £15m or Rooney for £30m - at the time of their purchase, they didn't have the reputation of being as good as Gotze or Hazard...probably because they weren't not as good as Gotze or Hazard. But clubs pay big money for English players because they think the way I do - in the long run, it's more likely to pay off. Of course if you're interested in making money - as we are - then by all means go for Hazard as we'll get double his transfer fee in a few seasons time.

So what none of them were English? Two of them were involved in the Unbeaten season. You mentioned players like Vermaelen, Koscielny, Sagna. Your whole argument since we've been on GW is that we should have more of those players afraid to try outside England. The idea that it's only ever the players not from England that will want to go abroad is becoming more and more obsolete as Citeh's money is too tempting for us.

It'll happen that we sell an English player to Citeh if we continue the way we're going. Does that mean to say the trend is irreversible and that we we will never get back to where we were? Of course not but this fearfulness of buying players that might go on to leave in a few years is silly if in those few years we get back to somewhere approaching where we were. You don't seem to be recognising that mentioning Rooney going abroad is misguided because Man Utd are always near to winning something, granted that's probably because of their manager but I now realise there's not going to be a danger of Rooney going whilst they still win things (and I think they will win the league). We aren't in that position anymore, we'll be like where Tottenham were after they sold Carrick to Man Utd. Their English players have the safety blanket of being involved in at least one of the two best sides in the country.

Clichy is not a superstar, nor will he ever be but he is a player of what we probably have a similar level of now. Tottenham point blank refused to sell Modric (to Chelsea), even though he wanted to go; we (initially) point blank refused to sell Cesc but on Wenger's recommendation we eventually waivered.

In the case of Man Utd selling Ronaldo for such a huge figure has probably set them up for a good few seasons, I think in the long run that one has payed off for them!

If we commit to more often that not buying Englsh players and we still need to maintain a profit, who is going to be sold?

[Coney]

Does the article really tell us anything we did not already know though?.

Does the article quote Wenger directly? No.

Does the Daily Heil consistenly print reliable unbiased articles about anything at all? No.

Is it possibly complete and utter bollocks written by a hack just to get his beer money for the week? Yes.

[LDG]

I should have though that the questions on which his quotes are based are rather far apart tbh.

And who's to say, without the benefit of the full interview, whether he was asked about all kinds of players, not just Hazard.

I hate these fucking articles, because you know half of it's shit, twisted and sensationalist.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Does the article quote Wenger directly? No.

Does the Daily Heil consistenly print reliable unbiased articles about anything at all? No.

Is it possibly complete and utter bollocks written by a hack just to get his beer money for the week? Yes.

True, i'm always skeptical about stories from the daily fail, especially when its not where else tbh.