Arsenal chief: Gunners would not have signed Ozil and Sanchez without Arsene Wenger

Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez are Arsenal's two most expensive signings

ARSENAL chief executive Ivan Gazidis has told supporters the club would not have been able to sign Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez without the influence of Arsene Wenger.

 

Ozil and Sanchez are the Gunners' two most expensive players in their history having joined for £42million and £35m in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

And both mentioned how talking to Wenger prior to the move persuaded them to join.

The big fees came after years of financial prudence and at club's annual general meeting today, Gazidis defended the transfer policy and emphasised Wenger's importance in signing star names.

He said: "Özil, Sanchez and Cech show how the board will release funds for signings at any point.

 

"You don’t sign players like Özil and Sanchez unless you have ambition to win the league and you don’t sign them without Wenger.

"We won’t spend money or waste it just to appease commentators."