Arsenal chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, has admitted that the club cannot compete with their Premier League rivals over transfer fees, as they don’t want to make “huge mistakes”.
Manager Arsene Wenger has bought new players this summer – midfielder Granit Xhaka, forward Tasumo Asano and centre-back Rob Holding – and saw a £29.3m offer for striker Alexander Lacazette rejected by Lyon.
The Gunners were also linked with striker Gonzalo Higuain, who has now joined Juventus for £75.3m.
Gazidis insists they will continue to be sensible in their transfer dealings.
“We can’t afford to outgun competitors that have far more money. We have to be very careful, very selective,” he said.
“We would not be successful if we simply went out into the transfer market and tried to outgun our competitors.
“We’re run in a self-sustaining way, and a way that we believe in, because we believe it gives us certainty for the future and enables us to plan our future with confidence.
“That means we can’t afford to make huge mistakes in the transfer market. We can’t afford to outgun competitors that have far more money to splurge on transfer fees than we do. So we have to be very careful, very selective about how we do things.”
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