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LoginArsenal Director: No Chelsea-Style Spending
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Last year, Arsenal's vaulting ambitions unravelled in the space of a catastrophic two-week period in February, when they lost the League Cup final to Chelsea, slumped out of the FA Cup against Blackburn and saw their Champions League hopes snuffed out by PSV Eindhoven. This has prompted many to state that the Gunners are doomed to forever be nearly-men unless they are prepared to splash the cash as liberally as their title rivals.
"We don't believe in the benefactor model," Fiszman insisted.
"It is not a question of a one-time infusion of cash to buy player x or player y. You actually then have salaries that are connected to the players."
"What if they don't work out? Do you go and buy another two or three players? Is there any end to it?
"So I think everybody, including Chelsea, knows there are limits. Chelsea were not big spenders last summer certainly - they got our old player Steven Sidwell on a free transfer.
"We believe in the end the self-sustaining model is the right one, the one we have adopted and will continue adopting."
The overwhelming belief is that new Milan midfielder Mathieu Flamini only left Arsenal for the money, but Fiszman refused to bad mouth their former midfield gem.
"We made a substantial offer to Mathieu. It was considerable and in line with our wage structure but he chose to go elsewhere.
"We wish him luck, thank him for what he has done for the club and wish him all the best," he added, before insisting that the club's strict wage structure is not that far removed from the other top clubs.
"If you look at our total wage costs you will see they are virtually the same as Manchester United and substantially more than Liverpool," Fiszer continued.
"Of course we are all a little less than Chelsea who are in a world of their own. But compared to Manchester United and Liverpool we are good payers.
"We believe it is a team sport and we do well but we don't want the disparity between the top and bottom earner being too big. It takes 11 people on the pitch to deliver."
Fiszman did, however, admit that last season was a massive disappointment when one considers just how promising things still looked going into the final stretch.
He said: "The football we played through the year created expectations, and the fact we had a five-point lead (over United in the Premier League) created even greater expectations so I think everybody is sad and deflated."
"In the end that is what we all strive for. We can't win every year and hopefully it will be our turn next year and for many years to come."
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