Real Madrid's €115m pursuit of Bale 'makes a joke of FFP', blasts Wenger

The Arsenal boss says it is “crazy” that clubs are trying to spend vast sums of money this summer, but also admitted that he feels under pressure to splash the cash himself

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says Real Madrid’s €115 million pursuit of Tottenham winger Gareth Bale “makes a joke” of Uefa’s Financial Fair Play regulations.

The Frenchman has so far been frustrated in his attempts to reinforce his squad this summer, with Napoli outspending the Gunners for Gonzalo Higuain, while Liverpool continue to hold firm over Luis Suarez.

And when asked about Madrid’s potential world-record capture of the Welshman, Wenger struggled to understand how clubs can continue to splash the cash despite Uefa’s plans to curb spending.

“It makes a joke of it,’ he told reporters. “It’s quite amazing in the year when Financial Fair Play comes in, world football goes completely crazy.

“You wonder what kind of impact and effect it has on the football world. It looks like it has made everybody worse than before.”

Arsenal have around €80m in transfer funds available to them this summer, and sections of the club’s support have grown restless that no big-name arrivals have come through the door of the Emirates Stadium so far.

“If you say we’re under pressure to spend money, yes we are,” Wenger added.

“But I feel more under pressure to spend the money in the right way and that’s what I’ll try to do. We want to spend it if it strengthens our team. Just spending the money is not a quality.

“Spending the money, buying the right players, that’s a quality, of course.

“If you can give me names who are better than the players we have currently, I am ready to talk about it.”

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