Gazidis defends recruitment policy

Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis admits his club will never be able to compete with the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City in the transfer market but believes Arsene Wenger's focus on developing young players is the correct way to run a football club.

The Gunners are enduring arguably their worst season under Wenger since he took over as manager 16 years ago. They are fifth in the Barclays Premier League and look set to miss out on Champions League football next term unless their form improves in the rest of the season.

Wenger infuriated sections of the Arsenal support by refusing to bring in a marquee signing last summer despite selling Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas for a combined fee of over £50million. Gazidis told Fox: "It (our model) does mean we can't afford to compete with oil money, and we can't afford to compete with super-wealthy individuals from Russia."

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