A lot has been made over the word “ammunition” today because it was uttered by the Arsenal head of football Raul Sanllehi while he was discussing the clubs summer transfer plans.
It was an in-depth interview and it is easy to take things out of context when quoting just snippets but that is what the media have done in abundance today making out that it is some sort of massive turnaround in the clubs attitude and that we can expect a significant number of quality signings.
But that is simply not going to be the case, not if you analyse what Sanllehi actually said, or rather what he did not say.
“I don’t feel in disadvantage with anybody. The Premier League, is exciting for any player in the world. London, Arsenal, the history, the dimension of the club, the stadium, the facilities at Colney, the fan base, the followers around the world and the exposure.
“Really, I feel like I have a lot of ammunition when I talk with players to engage them in our project.” Sanllehi said.
Well, that ammunition is not money, it is ok speaking about history, the club, the stadium and so forth but there was absolutely no mention of the size of the expected transfer budget.
No denial of the numerous reports claiming we have just £40 Million to spend rising to a potential £70 Million in the event we qualify for the Champions League.
All the history, culture and facilities will not get us two £40 Million players, it won’t get us top class talent that Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea, Man Utd, Tottenham and even Wolves can afford to purchase, we will continue to be restricted due to a limited transfer budget.
A pea shooter has ammunition, they are called peas and that is what we will be shooting while most of our direct rivals will be offloading rocket-propelled grenades and nothing Sanllehi said has persuaded me otherwise.