Arsenal

Ivan Gazidis: 'Arsenal cannot afford to compete in transfer market'

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 28 July 2016

Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis claims that the club cannot afford to compete with their Premier League rivals in the transfer market.

Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis has said that the club cannot afford to compete with their Premier League rivals in the transfer market.

The likes of Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool have all spent big this summer following disappointing campaigns in 2015-16.

Arsenal, meanwhile, have brought in just Granit Xhaka, Tasumo Asano and Rob Holding, but despite the fans' increasing frustrations at the lack of activity, Gazidis has stressed that the club cannot risk making "huge mistakes" in the transfer market.

"We can't afford to outgun competitors that have far more money. We have to be very careful, very selective. We would not be successful if we simply went out into the transfer market and tried to outgun our competitors," he told reporters.

"We're run in a self-sustaining way, and a way that we believe in, because we believe it gives us certainty for the future and enables us to plan our future with confidence.

"That means we can't afford to make huge mistakes in the transfer market. We can't afford to outgun competitors that have far more money to splurge on transfer fees than we do. So we have to be very careful, very selective about how we do things."

Arsenal have recently been linked with a move for Valencia centre-back Shkodran Mustafi, although the latest reports suggest that they are yet to lodge a formal bid for the Germany international.