Wenger says much when he says nothing at all

Arsenal v Manchester City:ARSENE WENGER'S autobiography would be a guaranteed bestseller. For the umpteenth time, the Arsenal manager yesterday reined himself in just as he looked set to spill the beans. Regular Wenger watchers have grown accustomed to his promise to "tell you another day".

The top tantaliser, ahead of this home fixture which he accepted could define his club’s Premier League title challenge, concerned when City’s Arab owners wanted to appoint him as their manager, which was believed to be after the sacking of Mark Hughes.

“That is certainly not a thing I want to speak about the day before the game,” Wenger said. “I never came out with who wanted to sign me.”

His true thoughts on the old boys’ network of British managers, who often seem to scratch each other’s backs, would also make for compulsive reading. Eyebrows were raised last week when, following Darren Ferguson’s sacking at Preston North End, his father, Alex, recalled the three Manchester United players who he had on loan at Deepdale and Stoke City’s Tony Pulis followed suit with the two he had there.

On Monday the United manager praised his friend for the work he had done at Stoke, while also aiming a dig at Wenger for his criticisms of Pulis’s playing style. Wenger can sometimes feel like the outsider.

“There is a good togetherness in the Premier League, it looks like,” Wenger said, before diving back under the cover of diplomacy.

“I do not want to start to think it is not all correct because then you stop your job. I have no suspicion and I do not want to have any suspicion.”

Wenger pulled no punches, though, on the subject of City’s spending power, which he feels has the capacity to distort the market. City have agreed a €32 million fee with Wolfsburg for striker Edin Dzeko, a player whom Wenger had tracked only to be discouraged by the price. Wenger likened City to the high-rolling gambler, who cared not for his losses.

“You look at the number of players who cost £20 million and do not even get on the bench at Man City, and £27 million (on Dzeko) is not a risk. It is a risk for me, but not for them. If you have £100 in your pocket and you put £90 on a blackjack table, you take a risk. If you have £5 million in your pocket and you put £90 on a blackjack table, it is not a risk.

“When I signed in England, this question did not exist. Every club was run within its resources. The Chelseas, the Man Citys are new problems in football.”

One of the €20 million-plus players who cannot get a game at City is the former Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor, who, Wenger said, had been badly affected by the armed ambush of the Togo team bus he was on during the Africa Cup of Nations in January last year.

City will look to move Adebayor, possibly on loan which, according to Wenger, raised another ethical question. City have loaned out a number of their players in order to comply with the 25-man squad limit and, in the case of Craig Bellamy, for example, who is at Cardiff City, they have continued to pay his wages. “The problem is when you loan your players out and you pay half of their wages, is that right or wrong?” said Wenger.

The Arsenal boss was in bullish mood as he assessed his team’s prospects, largely because they have gone into the new year with few injuries. With Kieran Gibbs back in full training and Aaron Ramsey due to return today after his loan spell at Nottingham Forest, Wenger is without only Manuel Almunia, Thomas Vermaelen and Abou Diaby.

Wenger confirmed he would only enter the transfer market if Vermaelen, who was “on the fringe of getting back on to the pitch”, failed to demonstrate significant progress in recovering from his Achilles’ injury by the end of the month.

Would Gary Cahill of Bolton Wanderers feature on the list of potential defensive replacements? “I wouldn’t like to give you a name but if Thomas doesn’t improve, we will have to look at it,” Wenger said. As so often, the intrigue lay as much in what he did not say.

Meanwhile, City’s preparations were disrupted by another angry confrontation on their training ground yesterday, with Adebayor and Kolo Toure being pulled apart in scenes that will raise further questions about the togetherness of Roberto Mancini’s squad.

The two former Arsenal players squared up after clashing in what was supposed to be a non-contact practice match to warm up for the trip to London and the coming together of the Premier League’s second- and third-placed teams.

One witness reported the players “losing it for a second with each other” before team-mates jumped in to prevent it escalating. After the players had calmed down, Mancini changed the sides so they were on the same team.

The flashpoint “ended swiftly enough”, according to the witness, but photographs of the melee will fuel the perception Mancini has assembled one of the more combustible squads in the top division.

Adebayor has missed the past month because of a foot injury but Mancini will be more concerned by the absence of David Silva and Balotelli (both knee injuries) for the Arsenal match.

Guardian Service