Wenger pins his future on move to new stadium

ARSENE WENGER yesterday warned Arsenal could struggle to attain long-term success and keep their squad together if they fail to finalise their move to a new stadium.

Wenger believes the move to Ashburton Grove is 80% likely, but the board only recently admitted it has until the new year at most to end its frustrating search for funding.

Otherwise, the delayed deal could finally fall through and Wenger says Chelsea’s rebirth would then only serve to heighten the club’s problems.

After all, not only Wenger but also his leading players, such as Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Robert Pires, have committed their futures to Arsenal on the basis of the new stadium being built.

Wenger insisted: “At the moment, we must rely on whether we are in the Champions League or not. For the club to get to the level of Manchester United and Chelsea, it’s vital we get a bigger stadium.

“Our success is based on good buys and professional organisation in the club. Our budget is the same as 10 other teams in the league and we need to be lucky with our players to stay at the top,” he said.

As to whether the new stadium is crucial to keeping his squad together, Wenger added: “They also believe that there’s a future there with a bigger potential and they want to be part of that.”

Wenger, who was yesterday named manager of the month for August, has been intricately involved in the proposal to shift from Highbury to a new 60,000-seat stadium at Ashburton Grove.

“We are waiting for the financing of the stadium. We don’t master when the answer will come out and what kind of answer it will be. We just know that the vibes are very positive,” he stressed.

Others are not quite so positive, although Wenger refuses to countenance alternative proposals such as Wembley, although he admits that “what has happened at Chelsea makes it even more important”.

Then again, he is not intimidated by Chelsea’s multi-million pound spree, although he believes there are good and bad effects of Roman Abramovich’s arrival.

“I’m not scared of what they do, but it is completely unexpected and puts pressure on other clubs who cannot afford to spend any more money,” he said.

“It’s good that there’s more money in the game, but it’s just an isolated case in a very deflated football world.

“When Chelsea buy Damien Duff for £17m, Blackburn will overpay the players they buy and so on down the chain. Wages will be pushed up, but only in the players who are interesting Chelsea,” he said.

Wenger also has some sympathy for Chelsea boss Claudio Ranieri, with first Sven-Goran Eriksson and then Alex Ferguson having been linked with Stamford Bridge.

“Why do people want to kill Ranieri? He’s a nice guy. This poor guy has to come in every day and check that nobody else is in the dressing room,” added Wenger.