Arsene Wegner: The Prudent Spender

Arsene Wenger is one of the most respected Economists in the footballing community today.  From shout-outs in the book Soccernomics (highly recommended read) to fanfare and media, Arsene has always brought a different financial approach to the modern game, one that will come to define a new age of modern football.

Mr. Wenger or the "Professor" as he is aptly known, started his career as a young boy in France.  While playing the beautiful game, he managed to complete a degree in Economics from the University of Strasbourg.  Arsene had a brief playing career followed by an interesting bout in various managerial roles.  Eventually the Professor landed in North London at Arsenal Football Club.  Since 1996 the club and coach have been synonymous with out of the box financial thinking.

Arsene Wenger has guided the Gunners through thick and thin, with his biggest test coming at the beginning of the current season.  Many question the seemingly financial prudence for a "top 4 club" in this time of economic splurging in European football.  Mr. Wenger has proved that, unlike many of the world's biggest clubs, one can run a team as a viable and profitable business.  This is perhaps his greatest feat.  Unable or perhaps, unwilling, to spend ludicrously on the world's most talented and expensive players; the Arsenal chief as implemented a system of bargain buys and record sales in the transfer market.  Looking at a small sample of these players, one can see the financial returns from player investments are astronomical (Anelka, Henry, Fabregas, Reyes, etc.).

Though this begs the question many of the Gunner faithful have been asking for 6 years now... Can such bargain hunting and money saving bring trophies to the Arsenal cupboards?  Well to that I say - Yes!

It has been a long few years since the last Arsenal triumph.  However, fans mustn't forget, Arsene did produce championship campaigns in both the Premier League and the FA Cup.  Times do change, one only as to look as across London to Chelsea or up north to Liverpool, and either Manchester United or City.  All of these teams have spent far more than Arsenal but have had a mixed bag of results.  United and Chelsea have certainly won plenty of titles, but City and Liverpool are yet to enjoy the feeling of lifting the Premier League trophy (Liverpool won the Champion's League and City the FA Cup in recent years).  The point being, Arsenal has had their fair share of success in the last decade.  Teams appear to be tilting back toward the direction of player development rather that opening up the checkbook - to supplement squad needs.

Arsene Wenger has a young, relatively cheap, nucleus of players.  This squad has performed spectacularly the last 10 or so games.  Players like Alex Song, Aaron Ramsey, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain,  Kieran Gibbs, and Woj Szczesny all ring a bell.  Lest we forget the bargain buys of Robin Van Persie, a resurgent Tomas Rosicky, and Laurent Koscielny to name a few.  These players will undoubtedly improve going into next season.  Throw in a healthy Jack Wilshere and a few summer recruits, and the Professor has this squad looking really, really good for the future.

Like any type of investment, things take time.  Arsene Wenger and Arsenal are bound to skyrocket heading into the future.  The Gunners are shooting up the trough and bound to peak for the next few years.  The club is in extremely good financial health (the same cannot be said for the likes of United).  Arsene Wenger will prove once again, that prudent spending, player development, and a solid economic standing are a recipe for trophies.

Future and Footy

I cannot begin to explain how much I have not only benefitted, but learned from my experiences of blogging on the worldwide web. In writing about two topics which I am extremely passionate about, I was able to explore areas and gather information from intriguing realms. Academically speaking, my writing and research skills dramatically improved from the beginning to the end of the fall semester. I acquired an abundance of knowledge about the financial side of football, a topic that I previously overlooked. By striving to make each and every post more enlightening, engaging, and entertaining, I hopefully portrayed a sense of knowledge and ultimately, passion. In regards to my occupation, the ideal plan is to go abroad to one of the thousands of clubs in Europe. There, I plan to evaluate, analyze, and even create adequate transfer prices for professional players. This type of work requires a superb understanding of demographics of players and clubs, projections and forecasting, as well as awareness of current and potential economic conditions. By including an analysis paper I produced in one of my Urban Economics classes at the University of Southern California, I demonstrate a rather unique ability to examine a specific area and report my findings. This skill is relatively difficult to master, especially in a number and graph heavy subject such as Economics. Through my paper, I believe that I exhibit a certain capability. I show that I have a knack for taking something that I am already extremely knowledgeable about and can present it with facts, figures, and evidence to someone that is not necessarily as familiar. For a major club, I expect to write and evaluate similar pieces. By showing not only my financial, but also my football prowess in my blogfolio, I hope to garner a great deal of respect that will one day translate into a very pleasing and worthwhile career. The artifact can be found below.

Financial Power Rankings

The latest rankings from Deloitte are in... The richest club team in the soccer world is Real Madrid. Los Blancos as they are affectionately called, top the 2012 list ahead of arch rivals Barcelona who came in second. American owned Manchester United came in third with German giants Bayern Munich taking the 4th spot. The Premier League rounded out the top 5 with Arsenal FC.