Wenger Backed With £70m Warchest As Boss Targets Jovetic & Capoue

Despite the transfer window now being closed there will still be plenty of gossip doing the rounds in the newspapers, so we’ll keep you up-to-date with the latest transfer rumours. Today, is Arsene Wenger finally set to splash the cash?

Arsenal are ready to back under-fire manager Arsene Wenger by handing him a record £70m summer transfer budget with the Frenchman targeting ‘three or four’ top quality players, according to the Telegraph.

The boss has come under increasing pressure from disgruntled (understandably) fans after another embarrassing cup exit at the weekend, this time to Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup, with many supporters feeling his time at the club is up.

However, it seems the Arsenal board are set to back Wenger with the Telegraph claiming he’ll be handed around £70m to strengthen the squad with this summer with the club expected to announce sizeable profits when they reveal their half-yearly accounts within the next two weeks.

The report suggests we have a cash balance of around £150m in the bank and much of this figure is set-aside for running costs and contingencies – such as missing out on the Champions League – so it’s understood Wenger will get the £70m regardless of whether we finish in the top four or not this season.

Many fans may wonder why, if the club has so much money sitting in the bank, did Arsene not spend some of it in January to fill the obvious holes in the squad. The newspaper claims his top targets, believed to be David Villa and Etienne Capoue, were not available last month so the boss decided to wait until the summer when he hopes to have a better chance of landing them.

The Telegraph claim Wenger will maintain his interest in Capoue but will switch his attention from Villa to the younger Stefan Jovetic. A right back is also understood to be an area of concern with Bacary Sagna likely to leave while an experienced goalkeeper is also on the agenda with Pepe Reina, Victor Valdes and Asmir Begovic all being considered.

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Seasoned Arsenal fans will have heard all of this before and stories of summer ‘warchests’ coming out after a disappointing defeat is nothing new. But you get the feeling the boss is on borrowed time and one of these days he’s going to have to finally bite-the-bullet and splash some cash. With his contract up in 2014 this summer may be his last chance to do so….but will he take it?

Do you think Wenger will spend heavily this summer? Who would you like to see come in? Get involved in the comments section below.