Arsene Wenger On Neymar’s Mega Deal To PSG: Football Is Beyond Rationality

By The Editor
on 4th August 2017

Arsene Wenger speaks on the Neymar to PSG deal…

As many may have expected, Arsene Wenger had some serious words to get off his chest regarding Neymar’s £200million move to Paris Saint-Germain this week.

Wenger, who has long been an advocate of financial fair play with clubs living within its own resources and spending the money generated through self-sufficient means, has questioned the “rational” nature of football in 2017.

The boss claimed that a number of interesting variables may have been behind Neymar’s deal to PSG, with one being the political climate in Qatar.

The hosts of the 2020 World Cup have been ostracized by their surrounding Middle-Eastern neighbours, with some heavy sanctions being imposed.

Given the close links between the Qatari Foundation which own PSG and their own political leaders, Wenger feels this deal was also designed to lift the mood back home.

Neymar’s release clause was activated this week, with a deal expected to be formally announced in the next few days.

“For me, it is the consequence of the ownerships and that has completely changed the whole landscape of football in the last 15 years,” Wenger told the press.

“Once a country owns a club, everything is possible. It becomes very difficult to respect the financial fair play because you can have different ways or different interests for a country to have such a big player to represent a country.

“Football has been for a long time out of normal society and the numbers are like the NBA in basketball, so it’s not comparable to normal life anymore.

“It’s beyond calculation and beyond rationality,” Wenger added.

Wenger was then asked whether Arsenal could compete at the level, to which the boss just chucked. Despite the enormous sums paid in this deal, we all know it doesn’t necessarily result in trophies on the pitch.

Real Madrid have dominated European football over the past few seasons, winning the Champions League in three of the last four seasons, yet it’s come at a time when they’ve invested modest sums of money.

Check out Wenger’s full pre-match press conference ahead of the Community Shield in the video above.