Arsenal fans were greeted this morning with all that exciting talk about a £200 million transfer kitty, after the Arsenal director Lord Harris made the very bold, and possibly foolish, statement that the Gunners could afford to sign just about any player in the world except Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi.
First of all, Ronaldo at his age would not cost anything like what the Barcelona star would and probably not even as much as Gareth Bale or Luis Suarez. But that is not necessarily the problem, even assuming that Lord Harris was right in saying the club would allow Arsene Wenger to spend whatever he liked to bring a top player to north London.
The problem for a club like Arsenal is not just affording a player but in persuading that player to join us and that is why I think the manager is holding back. We saw Man United get taken to the cleaners on all of their transfer deals last summer, because they had to pay over the odds with no Champions League football to offer and we do not want that to happen to us.
But if Wenger and the players can have the season we are all hoping for, winning the Premier League and perhaps going far in Europe, then Arsenal will be a serious prospect for any player. Then perhaps the boss will be ready to splash the cash and sign a really big name player or two. What do you think?