Rooney saga shows why Arsene is a genius

The Wayne Rooney saga which had peppered the front pages of the every newspaper from America to New Zealand is very much a tale that we, the Gunners fan should be familiar with. We have seen how our best players wanting to leave the club because Arsene Wenger just refuses to capitulate on his rigid salary structure. Over the years, players like Overmars, Anelka, Petit, Hleb, Toure and Adebayor have all left in chase of the money. Unfortunately, they have learned the hard way: money does not buy you happiness or success.

Wayne Rooney’s case might be slightly different in that he is in his prime but again, would he be wanting to leave if he could get the £200,000 plus wages a week that he was looking for. Looking across the city and seeing that a player like Yaya Toure is getting £215,000 pounds a week must be a cause of envy for the lad.

Unfortunately for Rooney, who besides City can pay these kind of wages? He has come out to say he want to get out of United but seriously, where can he go? With the Uefa’s financial fair play ruling coming into effect soon, no major club in the country or the continent can afford Rooney without making sacrificing other places. Even City would have to sell most of their players when the ruling takes effect.

By my reckoning, out of 25 players, only one player in each club can be the marquee player, possibly earning upwards of £200,000 pounds per week. Another group of possibly 6 or 7 players can be in the range of £100,000 - £120,000 pounds. Majority of the team would be in the £60,000 to £80,000 pounds category and the rest under £50,000. Mind you, I am referring to a major club like United or Arsenal.

So for example, Real Madrid, which Rooney has been linked to. Their marquee player has to be Cristiano Ronaldo, similarly at Chelsea where Terry rules the salary scales. In Manchester City, everybody seems to be earning over £100,000 or more so that would probably have to change.

So Rooney has nowhere to go unless he is willing to go to a Liverpool or Spurs where he can be the number one star. But then again, can Liverpool and Spurs give him the chance at winning titles, which according to him, is a main concern with United now.

I am sorry to be talking so much about Rooney but the lesson here applies to Cesc as well. He may want to leave for Barcelona but we have seen in the summer that they can’t afford him. Also if he stays at Arsenal, he will no doubt be the highest paid player possibly moving the salary structure upwards to about £150,000 just for him. However if he goes to Barcelona, unless he is willing to settle for a lower salary, Barcelona would not doubt be unable to fit him into the team and be clear of the financial ruling.

That is why I always maintain that Arsene Wenger is a genius. When the financial fair play ruling kicks in, structural changes need to be made at all major clubs with the exception of ARSENAL. Now’s that’s what I call foresight.