Arsenal’s two largest shareholders have intervened to ask Arsène Wenger to remain as manager at the club, but the future of Emmanuel Adebayor is likely to return to the top of the agenda in the next few weeks.
Stan Kroenke and Alisher Usmanov, who between them own about 53 per cent of the club, sought to reassure Wenger after he had hinted that he may consider a move to Real Madrid. This was seen as a thinly veiled pointer to his unhappiness at the recent power struggle in the club’s boardroom.
The manager’s more immediate problem is to resolve the future of Adebayor, who has come under criticism from fans because of his perceived lack of effort and simulation this season. The Togo forward’s agent is to hold talks with Wenger after growing concern over the booing that his player has faced.
Adebayor nearly joined AC Milan last summer and was tracked by Barcelona, and Wenger has been less than clear about his response to a significant offer for the player, even if it came from one of his main rivals. The Frenchman will need to generate most of his transfer income this summer and Adebayor could fetch about £20 million. Arsenal have ruled out using a rights issue, at the suggestion of Usmanov, to raise money for player acquisitions.
Stéphane Courbis, Adebayor’s agent, said that his player’s future is unaffected by Wenger’s decision to commit his future to the club. “I don’t know whether their futures are linked,” Courbis said. “All I know is that soon I will meet with Wenger to evaluate the situation because Emmanuel is being booed by just a small section of the fans and he has a good relationship with the coach.”
Courbis said that he was aware of fresh interest from Milan, who have made him their main target. “There are things to discuss with Wenger and it’s too early to discuss these [other] things,” he said. “I haven’t been contacted. I have read Silvio Berlusconi’s [the Milan owner] comments, but I can tell you that there is nothing new regarding Milan and Inter.”
Eduardo da Silva, the Arsenal forward, has had an operation in Amsterdam to remove the metal screws placed in his left ankle, which was dislocated in a challenge by Martin Taylor, of Birmingham City, more than a year ago. Eduardo who was not selected by Croatia for their World Cup qualifying match against Ukraine next month, will be fit for pre-season. He has played four times this campaign, but has been restricted by hamstring and groin injuries.
“The operation went well and Eduardo will follow a dedicated rehabilitation programme throughout June,” Arsenal said.
Wenger is likely to continue to pursue his policy of signing young players with potential and has expressed an interest in Eden Hazard, the Lille attacking midfield player who can also play on the wing. The 18-year-old, who is also being monitored by Chelsea and Inter Milan, has three years left on his present deal. He has won four caps for Belgium.
“My target is to produce with the money available in the best possible way,” Wenger said last week. “If it is £10 million, £20 million or £100 million, I am happy to work with resources I have and to do as well as I can.”
Out with old, in with the new
Thoughts that Arsène Wenger will splash the cash this summer are contradicted by his record in each of the past five summer transfer windows. The Arsenal manager has generally balanced his books by signing promising young players with funds from the sale of more established stars.
Wenger has shown, with Emmanuel Petit, Marc Overmars and Patrick Vieira, among others, that he likes to maximise transfer income from players before their value begins to diminish.
The most that Wenger has spent, after deducting income from player sales, was about £3.8 million three years ago. In that year, he signed Tomas Rosicky and Alexandre Song, among others, but he recouped money from the departure of several players, topped by Ashley Cole and Pascal Cygan.
Wenger spent a net £1.25 million last summer, but made a profit of £5 million two years ago and £3.6 million two years before that.
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