Arsenal's Transfer Policy: Reason behind Gunners' trophy drought

Arsenal have failed to attract top players for over a decade now which has seen their trophy drought extend to eight years. Arsene Wenger and the club’s administration needs to change their transfer policy, should they have any hope of challenging the top three Premier League teams, Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea.

Theo Walcott is the North London club’s highest paid player with a weekly wage of £100,000 a week. While on the other hand the Premier League champions are providing a wage for £250,000 a week for their frontman Wayne Rooney. So, is wages the only roadblock for the Gunners in achieving success or stopping them from getting their hand on the silverware.

Unfortunately, wages alone is not the issue for Wenger to attract players. However, it is one of the reasons which have seen Arsenal fail to bring world class players to the Emirates. Another concern for the Gunners is their contract policy of not giving more than a year deal for their star players above the age of 30. This led to their legend, Thierry Henry make a switch away from the club as the Frenchman joined Barcelona in the summer of 2007.

However, one can argue the same policy is been followed by their London rivals Chelsea and the English champions. England international Frank Lampard was finally given a one-year deal while former Leeds United player Rio Ferdinand extended his stay at Old Trafford for a year after United tied up with a new deal last month.

On the other hand, United have seen their veterans Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes ending their career. While Brendan Rodgers will tie up Steven Gerrard on a long term deal as the former Swansea manager wants the England midfielder to end his career at Anfield.

The transfer policy has not stopped Chelsea and United in attracting world class players. They do not hesitate to break the bank to bring in great players to their club. The Red Devils lost the league title on goal difference to Manchester City, which resulted their outgoing manager Sir Alex Ferguson to sign Robin van Persie for £24m from Arsenal.

The Dutch international had a year left in his contract when he parted way with Arsenal last summer. Chelsea, on the other hand did not shy away in bringing Eden Hazard, who had been a transfer target for both the Manchester clubs.

The wage structure, coupled with not giving a more than year’s deal will force the players to find a bigger club in order to avoid being forced to make a move away from the Emirates. In the past few seasons, Arsenal have seen several of their star players leave, which includes Van Perise, Alex Song, Samir Nasri, Cesc Fabregas, Henry, Mathieu Flamini and the list goes on.

Wenger is believed to be handed a £70m war chest to bring in new faces to the Emiarets. Earlier reports suggested the Frenchman is believed to break the bank to sign Rooney, which could see him earn £200,000 a week at the North London club.

Should Arsenal fail to amend their transfer policy, the club could lose several of their star players in the near future. The players who could possibly make a switch away in the summer are Bacary Sagna, Laurent Koscielny, Lukas Podolski and more. This could further hinder the new players joining the Gunners as well.

With Wenger having just a year left on his deal, a failure from Arsenal to change their transfer policy and not holding their manager could likely lead them to face further turmoil in the future.