Football
Mattias Karen, Arsenal correspondent 8y

Arsenal's Arsene Wenger: 'Overboard' to criticise Gunners' lack of titles

Arsene Wenger has revealed that Arsenal were only given a loan to build the Emirates Stadium after he promised the banks to stay on as manager for five years, and says it's "a bit overboard" to criticise him for not having won the league since then.

Wenger is under heavy pressure as Arsenal wrap up a trophy-less season, with a fan protest planned at the Emirates during Saturday's game against Norwich.

The Frenchman is in his 20th season at the club but won his last of three Premier League titles in 2004. However, Arsenal spent several years crippled by financial restraints after moving into the Emirates in 2006, which forced Wenger to sell several top players while looking for bargains in the transfer market to help ensure continued Champions League football.

And Wenger indicated that the loans for the stadium -- totalling £260 million -- would never have been approved had he not committed his long-term future to the club.

"When we built the stadium, the banks demanded that I signed for five years. I did it. Do you want me to tell you how many clubs I turned down during that period? So I think I've shown that I'm committed," Wenger said in a briefing with reporters.

"The banks wanted technical consistency to have a guarantee that we have a chance to pay back. I did commit, and I stayed. And under very difficult circumstances. So for me to come back today and say on top of that, they reproach me for not having won the championship during that period, I think it's a bit overboard. I accept criticism, but I think it's a bit too far."

Wenger's ability to keep the club in the top four through that period is one reason why their finances are now in much better shape, with debt payments under control and large cash reserves in the bank.

"You have to remember that when we built the stadium we had 5-7 difficult financial years when we had to pay back," Wenger said earlier at a news conference. "And I think the club is now out of that period and is in a much stronger position. It is today in a position where we can compete again financially with our main opponents. But during that time it was very difficult."

But despite having more cash in the bank, Arsenal were the only Premier League team not to buy an outfield player during last summer's transfer window. Looking ahead to this summer, Wenger pledged that "we have only one solution which is to add what we need to add to the team."

But even though fan discontent could be soothed with a couple of big-name signings, Wenger is not about to buy just for the sake of buying.

"All this [about] calming people down by buying names, for me that is the wrong calculation," he said. "You want to be a better team and don't look too much at the names. I know it's more flashy but what is important is the quality of the games."

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