Back in 2001 Arsenal pulled off one of their greatest ever signings in Sol Campbell. Getting the 26 year old, captain of your fiercest rival on a free transfer was immense and key component in wining subsequent titles. Flash forward to 2012 and I don't believe we pay anyone currently at the club that much now (although some of have speculated Podolski might be similar wages) Imagine trying to make that same singing now!! We all know the club won't sign a 50M player but we had the money back then to offer one of the top wages in the country so with the increased revenue they receive from our fans how can they not compete on wages? They seem to want to have this twisted democracy where all the players are on similar wages. So while Squallici who's not played for us this season earns 50k per week arguably our best player Arteta earns only slightly more ?!?! The higher wages might have been able to actually keep some players but also get more players interested in joining us
Squillaci is on more than that. Rumours at the time were that he was penned at 80k because he was signed to be 1st Choice alongside Vermaelen. For some reason, he sucked, while Koscielny upped his game. When signed, Kos was reportedly only on 25k.
