Arsenal has £120m in cash reserves - Summer striker signing on the cards?

Spend some money is a command many have directed at Arsène Wenger over the years and with new deals and £120m of cash reserves (see latest financial results) it looks like Arsenal might be able to go big once again this summer.

Today Arsenal Chairman, Sir Chips Keswick, confirmed the board will give full financial support to Arsène Wenger in the transfer market: “We will also continue to support the manager in the transfer market when he identifies players he believes can further strengthen the squad”

Wenger probably doesn’t have £120m to spend and youth development is still high on the clubs list of priorities with Sir Chips adding: “Our manager Arsène Wenger has built another supremely talented team with a blend of young players and those with more experience from around the world. This is testimony again to Arsène Wenger’s philosophy of giving young talented players a chance.”

However, it is safe to assume that a large proportion of that cash reserve will be made available to Wenger to sign new players and secure existing talent.

“Whilst youth development continues to be an important focus, we fully recognise the importance of getting the balance right between youth and experience. As you well know, we signed Mesut Özil for a Club record transfer fee in the summer and, in addition, the signing of Mathieu Flamini has proved to be an astute acquisition.

“We have also continued to invest in the squad by retaining some of our key players. We expect to be able to confirm, in the near future, that a number of our senior players have signed extended contracts. This is important for the stability of the squad.”

Players due to be announced include Mertesacker and Rosicky but with Wenger admitting today that Sagna was ‘not close’ to a new deal some of that cash might have to go on a new right-back.

It isn’t the club’s policy to say how much they have to spend or have set aside for spending, but a fair guess would say we might be able to afford two Özil’s this summer so that exceptional striker we’ve been crying out for could be a real possibility.

With these statements from the chairman it would seem as though the club is planning on Wenger being manager for a while yet.

Sources: Arsenal.com and Chairman’s statement