Arsenal will sign quality players, says CEO Gazidis

English Premier League club Arsenal is in
search of top players to boost the squad, CEO
Ivan Gazidis has told the supporters.
He also defended the decision to hand long-
serving manager Arsene Wenger a new contract
after a season marred by protests.
A vociferous section of fans turned on the
manager as results faltered when Arsenal exited
the Champions League and their hopes of a
change of leadership were dashed when he
signed a new two-year deal at the end of the
campaign.
“We’re looking for top-quality players,” Gazidis
said at a fan event on Thursday. “We’ve got
three times as many scouts as we had four
years ago. I believe that to be a world-class
football club you’ve got to be world class off the
pitch.”
Some fans are disillusioned with the direction
the club is heading in under Wenger, a feeling
compounded by the perception that he is
unwilling to spend big money on players that
can take Arsenal to the next level.
On the pitch, Arsenal won the FA Cup but
finished fifth in the Premier League, failing to
qualify for the Champions League for the first
time in Wenger’s 21-year tenure.
Gazidis denied there was an element of
sentimentality behind the decision to give
Wenger an extended stay.
“It wasn’t a sentimental decision,” he said. “It
was a mutual one… I care about the club and
those values. I want the club to be successful.”
With news trickling out of the Emirates that
Alexis Sanchez — Arsenal’s best player over the
past few years — wants out before the new
campaign, the situation could quickly turn sour
if results do not go Wenger’s way from the start
of next season.
Gazidis implored the supporters to unite behind
the team.
“There has been disagreement,” he added.
“There has been a lack of unity and
dissatisfaction. The board knows that.
“I beg you, please come together and give our
manager and this team support. I want the
atmosphere to be united and it has been a
struggle because we haven’t had that.”