http://t.sport.uk.msn.com/football/wenger-bale-bid-makes-joke-of-ffp Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes if Real Madrid were to pay £105million to sign Gareth Bale from Tottenham it would make a "joke" of Financial Fair Play. Spurs have no intention of selling their star man but the Spanish giants are said to be ready to test that resolve with what would be a world-record fee. Wenger feels such figures would go completely against the new UEFA-driven regulations aimed at making sure all clubs balance the books. "It makes a joke of it. It's quite amazing that in the year where the Financial Fair Play comes in, the football world has gone completely crazy," said the Arsenal manager, who has yet to make a marquee summer signing despite having significant funds available. "You wonder what kind of impact and effect it has on the football world. It looks like it has made everybody worse than before." Despite the fierce rivalry between the two north London clubs, Wenger would not like to see Bale - whose stellar performances earned him the Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year and Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year accolades last season - leave the Barclays Premier League. "It is never good to lose a big player," the Gunners boss added. "He is a British player and I believe it is important that the Premier League keeps the best players." I agree with him on this. It kind of makes a mockery of the FFP. Also he is right about the best players leaving the Premiership. All it does is weakens the league.
Oh good, more time spent by Wenger talking about his thoughts on financial policies rather than actually doing something to improve Arsenal
He was asked a question about financial matters as he is an economist and known to be at the forefront of the FFP discussions and similar things with the EPL. Seems perfectly nomal that he would give his opinionwhen asked. Not sure why your so desperate to put Wenger down at every opportunity astro?
I know managers can only answer the questions put to them by the press it just seems poor of Wenger to complain about the possible value of a deal he's not involved with, and even a rival club.
FFP is a joke, most people have said that right from the time it was announced. The weird thing is that the club that started it all, Chelsea, are the only ones that seem to be trying to reduce their spending
He was answering a question asked of him. He has also always made his views on finances clear and being a strong supporter of the FFP regulations and also for the EPL's version of FFP it doesn't seem at all odd that he would come out with these comments. I'd assume a lot of the football world agrees with him. Should he just stay silent on everything to do with any club that isn't Arsenal even when directly asked about it? Surely when FFP would benefit Arsenal massively and it is SUPPOSED to be in regulation now - him speaking out about ridiculous transfers is a good thing as it puts pressure on those implementing the FFP. I'd imagine a lot of clubs and Managers agree with this and it's good that when people flaunt the rules they are called up on it. I dont see any problems with hsi comments and can't for the life of me see why anyone else would have a problem with his comments. You seem to be on every thread just saying anti-Wenger stuff... did you come home one night to find him bending your bird over the kitchen table?
£105M is ****ing ludicrous. Levy is the master negotiator. Put Obama in a room with Korean, Egyptian, Cuban and Al Qaeda leaders and Levy will have them exchanging Facebook details within an hour.
Silly money, but Madrid have millions more fans in Spain alone than most English clubs have in all of Europe, hence the drive for fans by PL clubs in the far east Was Ronaldo's fee not the same inlfation wise? 80m and a few years ago. No doubt they have made the money back on him already or almost all by now FFP applies to Madrid too but just don't hold your breath waiting to see any top side in any major league get banned from the CL, not when it will hurt the tournament's profile.
Football finance is a complete joke and the system's totally fubar, the amount of clubs that end up in dire financial straights from chasing the dream is ridiculous and filters from the Premiership to non-league. Let's list a few teams that have sunk badly in recent years: Portsmouth, Coventry, Aldershot, Farnborough, Halifax, Stockport, Leeds, QPR (probably), Chester, Weymouth, Rushden & Diamonds, Darlington, etc, etc. As for whether Wenger should comment on it seeing as it doesn't affect him, well tbh the fact that he's commenting should be commended. The self-centred 'me-first' attitude of clubs needs to be curtailed and the only way to do that is if clubs think about more than just themselves but consider the wider implications of what they do and stop living in cloudcuckooland, so the fact that Wenger is already doing this is a good thing. There's also the issue that with unemployment being so horrendously high in Spain at the moment and the economy in such a horrendous state, wasting a £100m on a footballer just seems offensive.
