The most ambitious man at Arsenal is Arsene Wenger.
Without him, the Emirates Stadium would not exist. If he had not agreed to stay and run the show, the club would still be playing at Highbury
Most of Arsenal's transfer negotiations were handled by the club's second most ambitious man, vice-chairman David Dein, a trader with a gregarious personality. Dein joined the board when Arsenal were in the doldrums because there was an executive vacuum at the club, and he kick-started them into the modern era.He realised that you have to speculate to accumulate.
Basically, Arsenal is held together by two things : mystique and Arsene Wenger.
The club has a lot of history, a strong tradition, a proud heritage, it does things differently, it has a lot more class than most football clubs, and it has just made a quantum leap into a bigger stadium. Financially, that was a very bold move and the board are still a bit stunned by their audacity.
And now, in the summer of 2007, the chief owner lives in Switzerland, the chairman, always a figurehead, is past it, the MD is a number-cruncher from the retail sector, the only director who knows anything about football has been booted out, and the Frenchman who runs the show wears a helluva lot of hats.
Wenger says that David Dein handled 80% of the work on transfers and he handled the other 20%.
The Frenchman, a polymath and workaholic, was already manager, coach, spokesman, chief scout, professor of sports science, pilates teacher, ex-officio director, consultant to the architect, and crockery-buyer at his self-designed training ground, but they gave him another job : finding somebody to do 80% of the transfer negotiations, the buying and selling of players. So in addition to his myriad other duties, Arsene was now a headhunter .
In effect, Arsenal were saying : We've kicked out your best friend at the club but, as compensation, it's your appointment. Choose your own negotiator/sporting director.
Dein was sacked 43 days ago.
So why hasn't Arsene hired anybody? Because he can't find the right man? Because he wants to save another salary? Because he doesn't trust anybody? Because he wants David Dein back? Or is Arsene Wenger just a control-freak who hates to delegate?
Whatever the reason, Arsenal remains a one-man show. Arsene does everything and decides everything, and the board never tread on his toes, in case he gets offended and walks. Has any manager in any era ever had as much power ?
Meanwhile, Gooners are impatient and nag each other about new players who might come to Arsenal. That's normal in the silly season and few were surprised when Academy Director Liam Brady said Arsenal don't have tons of money to throw about.
Brady said, "I think he will add a little more steel to the squad. Arsenal probably need two or three new players and with the club not in a position to throw money around you might see Wenger targeting a couple of pros who've already had the experience of winning trophies."
Arsene had talked about his side lacking a bit of "aggressiveness", so adding steel is overdue. Targeting proven winners is the way to go. It's essential. When it's 0-0 after 65 minutes away from home, and three points are still up for grabs, you don't need a team of kids. You need a core of guys who know how to win a game.
But what Liam Brady said may be what he thinks Arsene should do, rather than what Brady he thinks he will do.
We've seen Arsene willing to spend £10m on a player but not £25 million, so he would be breaking the mould if he was to buy what he recently called "a super-class player".
He has a £40 million loan facility but has shown no inclination to put the club even deeper into debt. Quite the opposite, in fact. He has talked about being able to "create money" and going to Spain to try to sell Reyes suggests that Brady's comment is a revealing one.
Obviously, Arsene is a prudent manager who does not want to abuse the huge trust placed in him and his judgements.
He has an overall budget for wages and transfers and while he is in charge you will never have a Peter Ridsdale-David O'Really scenario of reckless spending and escalating debts. That is why the directors give him a free hand. He spends millions but also generates millions, unlike most managers.
Basically, there are three reasons Arsene Wenger won't sign a big name striker. One, he can't afford it. Two, it would upset the pecking order in his rather precious squad. Three, as a developmental coach who loves to turn kids into stars, he thinks buying readymade players is cheating.
OK, he might surprise me. He might amaze us all. But I reckon Arsenal supporters should scale down their hopes in the transfer market.
Players are cheaper in the last week of the transfer window, and cheapest on August 31. But who will be negotiating deals for Arsenal on August 31, 2007 ? Not David Dein. And not Arsene Wenger, who will be at Colney with a whistle round his neck and a stopwatch in his hand.
Long-term, will happen after Arsene goes? Who will choose the next manager? Which director is qualified to interview the next Arsenal manager? I doubt if the board has ever discussed that.
As a club, Arsenal have no Plan B because Plan AW has worked so well for eleven years.
Still, maybe Arsene can do that too. Maybe the next manager will be his appointment. If recent events are anything to go by, he could be allowed to choose his successor.