Arsene Wenger defends transfer policy

Arsene Wenger has defended his lack of activity in the transfer market and has warned that Arsenal must be allowed to conduct any business away from public scrutiny.

Wenger has yet to spend a penny of his transfer kitty this summer and his lack of business drew criticism from fans as the Gunners suffered a surprise 3-1 defeat at home to Aston Villa on the opening day of the new campaign.

With Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain ruled out for at least six weeks, the pressure is on Wenger to spend some of the transfer funds that are available to him and he responded by tabling a bid for Newcastle’s Yohan Cabaye.

News of the bid came just hours before Newcastle went down 4-0 to Manchester City and prompted Magpies manager Alan Pardew to hit out at his rival for trying to unsettle the midfielder ahead of their opening fixture.

Wenger, however, is tired of the criticism and went on the defensive as Arsenal arrived in Turkey for their Champions League play-off first-leg tie against Fenerbahce.

“I live in a public job where there are opinions of everybody,” Wenger said.

“I do with full commitment what I believe is important for the club and the team and prepare for the next game.

“There is nothing to explain (about Cabaye). First of all, you don’t know what we have done, you don’t know if we did bid and you have come to a conclusion without knowing everything that has happened.

“It is quite amazing that all of the people don’t know and yet they always have opinions about things they don’t know.

“I won’t explain to you what happened. It is not down to me to explain to you everything I do. It is impossible.

“If we do a transfer we will announce it. We always inform you. As for the rest, you have to leave us to do our own things.”

Wenger went on: “We don’t want to hurt anybody, not Newcastle, not anybody.

“You can’t reproach us on one side for not buying and yet on the other side when we try to buy to reproach us as well. That is a bit contradictory.

“I would just like to reiterate to you that in the last 16 years we have been very successful with transfers – if you look at the players who play tomorrow, they are top quality players, and you should never forget that.

“It is not always to think what is outside is better than what you have.

“What is important as well is to rate what you have and our fans have to understand that as well.”