Arsenal manager has expressed concern about the way Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is able to distort football’s level playing field.
Speaking on the day that Chelsea posted annual losses of £80million, Wenger said clubs should be forced to balance their books.
“They have a super sponsor,” the Arsenal manager said last night.
“With normal mathematics, -80 is -80. It’s not on the surface, it is 80 miles below water, and to survive so deep is normally very difficult. But they have support that allows them to do it.
“The rules allow them to do it. I have my own opinion about that: all clubs should be balanced with their natural resources. That means they can only spend what they earn.”
Abramovich, Chelsea’s benefactor and owner, has suggested he wants the Premiership champions to become more self-sufficient in future. Wenger supported that stance. “That is a fair view,” he said. “Then, in the long term, the club does not depend on his expenditure. But at the moment, it is. So the club, to survive at this level, depends on Abramovich.”
But Wenger admitted that Arsenal would not have turned down a sugar daddy like Abramovich.
He said: “Chelsea are in a situation where they are lucky to have that kind of advantage. I can understand completely that they take advantage of it.”
