:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/photo_images/1651413/GYI0063014985.jpg)
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger's made a habit of sniping at Chelsea whenever the Blues spend big in the market, so it comes as no surprise to see that he's slightly upset at Roman Abramovich spending upwards of £70M on Fernando Torres and David Luiz (those two names still send a bit of a thrill down my spine as I type) yesterday. Now, I'm a guy who enjoys watching Arsenal and have the utmost respect for how they build their club and play the game. But this is a little bit silly from their manager:
Chelsea supported Uefa's financial fair-play proposals but in the morning they announced a £70m loss and in the afternoon they buy £75m worth of players. Where's the logic in that? It's hard to guess. Officially they vote for financial fair play but they can explain why they have done this much better than I can.
Well, Arsene...
It actually makes perfect sense that they voted for Financial Fair Play. You know this. You've read the document, and your education suggests that you were probably able to comprehend it. Per FFP, Chelsea did not, in fact, lose £70M last year - thanks to a clause that allows teams to temporarily ignore wages on contracts signed before 2010, which, for Chelsea is most of them. Furthermore, FFP does not regulate spending an owner's money, it merely prevents teams from spending loaned money all willy-nilly.
For Chelsea, voting for FFP as it stood made perfect sense and is totally consistent with their actions. It's teams such as Real Madrid and Manchester United that will be hit hardest by the new rules - the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea should be able to escape more or less free. Again, Arsene knows this, so I don't know why he's been quoted as not understanding what's going on, unless he's merely trying to kick up a fuss.
In which case, whatever. I'm not trying to be rude or anything, but I do find it interesting that the Gunners are so light on defensive depth that they're regularly playing Sebastian Squillaci but can't stomach £22M spent on David Luiz. Again, I have the utmost respect for Arsenal - I simply don't understand why Wenger's insisting on making a fuss here. He understands the issue and this doesn't involve their team. Just let it go, man.