Arsenal Boss Arsene Wenger Bemoans Roman Abramovich's Renewed Interest In Chelsea Cause

Gunners' manager foretells a Blues summer splurge to match deadline day bonanza.
Arsene Wenger has warned that Roman Abramovich will embark on another transfer spending spree in the summer after re-discovering his interest in football.

The Chelsea owner sanctioned a £75 million splurge in the last minutes of the transfer window on Liverpool’s Fernando Torres, for a British record £50 million, and David Luiz from Benfica.

“It shows you two things,” said Wenger in his post-match press conference. “At Chelsea, for a while, Abramovich is a bit in no-man’s land, where nobody could guess whether he still wanted to invest or not for a long time. But certainly that has changed.

“He has decided to put money into the game. That tells you certainly in the summer more will come. He is back to full investment. Only he can explain why but that’s how you read it from the outside.

“It looked like Abramovich was maybe not as involved anymore, that’s what people said in the newspapers. It looks like Chelsea is back in the market when they were not for a while, which means more is to come in the summer.

Asked about the ramifications Chelsea could face from Uefa’s impending financial fair play regulations, Wenger said: “That’s why I sat in my armchair last night and watched from the outside. Chelsea is a special case like Manchester City is a special case.

“In the morning they announced a £70m loss. In the afternoon, they buy £75m worth of players. Where is the whole logic in that? It is difficult to guess. They officially voted for financial fair play, they signed up for it, but they could explain better what they do.

“They bought a great player [Torres] who has won the World Cup and European Championships. After that it is down to how much you want to pay for the player. Chelsea has the potential to do it.”

Wenger, who did recruit any new blood for Arsenal, admitted he was bewildered by the sums spent by Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City last month after what had been a quiet winter window 12 months previously in the Premier League.

“It goes from one extreme to another,” said the Arsenal manager. “You give money to one club and they spend it again. Football is always like that. The smaller club has always lived like that, getting money from bigger clubs.”