Arsenal are whistling a happy tune

14 April 2012

With typical stealth and understatement Arsene Wenger has demolished the prophets of gloom who claimed that the £450million Ashburton Grove project would seriously inhibit Arsenal's ability to compete with the big players on the European transfer market.

The arrival of Jose Antonio Reyes at Highbury is a reminder to Manchester United and Chelsea that Arsenal won't be muscled out of the transfer market.

It's a timely reminder, too, to the professional game as a whole that there is no substitute for good accountancy.

At a time when the threat of insolvency is beginning to cast a shadow over some of the Premiership's biggest clubs, Arsenal have demonstrated the value of sensible housekeeping. "We only buy a player when we know we can afford him," grinned the Arsenal manager.

Reyes is considered one of Europe's most promising players and the fee reflects his status. Wenger insists that the initial outlay of around £9m does not break Arsenal's transfer record - that honour belongs to £13m Sylvain Wiltord - though a complex system of delayed payments based on appearances, goals scored and the team's successes could make the entire package worth around £17m.

Whatever the final cost, the fact that Arsenal can still compete financially at this level will reassure Highbury loyalists who feared that the proposed move to Ashburton Grove would significantly reduce Wenger's spending power in the transfer market.

As important to Wenger, of course, is the galvanising effect a new face will have in the dressing room at a critical stage of the season. Arsenal are still competing on four fronts and the signing of Reyes, just a few days after Manchester United spent £12.8m on Fulham's Louis Saha, is a clear statement of intent and one that Sir Alex Ferguson cannot afford to ignore.

While Ferguson is embroiled in unseemly squabbling at Old Trafford, Arsenal have shown that they can spend fortunes in the transfer market AND build a new stadium while whistling a happy tune.

Wenger has tracked the 20-year-old Sevilla striker for more than a year and would probably have delayed a move until after Euro 2004 had it not been for a sequence of unforeseen events that have seriously diminished his striking options in recent weeks.

He knew he would lose Nwankwo Kanu for most of the month because of the African Nations Cup. He knew also that two more strikers, Francis Jeffers and Jermaine Pennant, were out on loan and that his frontline goalscorer Thierry Henry would need resting before the Champions League programme resumes.

But he didn't know that injury would rob him at various stages in the New Year of Dennis Bergkamp, Jeremie Aliadiere and Wiltord. Even makeshift striker Freddie Ljungberg has joined the injured list which means that Arsenal will try to overhaul Middlesbrough's 1-0 lead in the Carling Cup semi-final at the Riverside Stadium tonight with two teenage strikers - David Bentley, 19, and Quincy Owusu-Abeyie, 17. These injuries, threatening to undermine Arsenal's place at the top of the Premiership, plus the long term likelihood that one or two of Wiltord, Bergkamp and Kanu will be leaving at the end of the season made the acquisition of a new striker an imperative element in Wenger's planning.

Bergkamp, 35 in May, will be the most difficult to replace but Reyes could play in his role as the second striker. He could also lead the attack or play in a wide position.

His real value though will surely be in a supporting role alongside the incomparable Henry, a task that will require some thought. Henry is unusual among prolific goalscorers in that he plays across the width of the pitch and it will take time to establish a good working relationship with him.

Reyes, who won the first of his three Spanish caps earlier this season, already has a goalscoring pedigree. He scored 21 goals in 84 Primera Liga matches and, such was the regard for him that Sevilla persuaded him to sign a contract until 2010.

But, providing he passes a medical, he will sign a five-year contract with Arsenal - more than enough time for him to establish a fruitful partnership with Henry.

He may not get the chance to start that on Sunday against Manchester City, though, because he could arrive with a one-match suspension hanging over him if the ban is transferred from Spain to England.

Then again, as Wenger, joked: "That just makes me think he has all the qualities to be an Arsenal player!"

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