Gareth Barry

As at Christmas, Arsenal was fourth – a supposedly lucrative position in the eyes of their manager.
Sometimes you wonder if manager Arsene Wenger is no longer bored of this circus of safety of just qualifying for the UEFA Champions League year in, year out.

It gets increasingly depressing for the fans who wish for more and instead of looking out for options hungry enough to get them what they want, they’d rather let go of such ambitions and stick with the devil they know than hop into bed with some unknown angel.

The travails of Manchester United since Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure has undoubtedly played a part: The last few years have seen the Gunners lull around the limits of the French man’s desires.

One big pill the fans have been made to swallow almost every transfer window is watch their star performers leave for rival clubs all because Wenger and the club officials refuse to shift the goal post of their wage structure. Arsenal’s stability in the Premier League have helped them operate on the profit side of balance sheets yet the fans are made to watch their stars leave for big money spenders like Madrid, Barca, Man City etc.

Cese Fabregas, Samir Nasri, Gael Clichy, Barcary Sagna and Robin Van Persie all left the Emirates at a time they were most pivotal to the North Londoners course all for the same reason – inability to agree on a pay rise. Arsenal ranks as the fifth most richest club behind Madrid, Barca, United and Bayern yet the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City - who both rank below them - have more attractive player-friendly pay packages.

Only 5 players in the Gunners set-up – Cech, Ozil, Sanchez, Walcot and Giroud – earn a 100 and above thousand pounds per-week as opposed to Chelsea and Man city who have 8 and 14 players respectively in that bracket. What more? Mesut Ozil’s £140,000 weekly wage is the highest player-bill at Emirates as against Hazard’s 200 thousand pounds per week while at Manchester City, Toure and Aguero appear as joint earners with their weekly 220k.

Even Manchester United that’s at the risk of running on a loss due to their difficulty in appearing consistently in the Champions League, coupled with the vast outlay shelled out on acquisition of new players over the last two summer transfer windows, had the gall to break the bank and make Paul Pogba the most expensive player of all time in a deal that see the French man land a 290K pounds per-week deal.

With the current contract debacle rocking the Gunners especially that of Alexis Sanchez’s refusal to sign a 180k pounds weekly deal, holding out for more, coupled with the team’s unfortunate back to back defeats at the hands of Everton and Manchester City, the onus now falls on Mr. Wenger to make sure the news he will breakout to the fans is that of the Chilean agreeing to stay put else he risks testing followers’ resolve and that might have the possibility of an ugly outcome afterall there is only so much backs pashed to the wall can take. Given his reputation, it will be a shame to see him part ways with the North Londoners in such manner.