It came as no real surprise last Wednesday when Robin Van Persie announced that he would not be signing a new contract at Arsenal, adding that he wanted to quit the club because they are not challenging for silverware.

After all it is summer, big name departures from the Emirates are about as regular as the rain we now consistently find in July and August.

The situation has led to some heavy criticism of Arsene Wenger and the Arsenal board. Their inability to match Van Persie’s wage demands have led some fans to call for the French manager to move on.

They are annoyed with his, and the board's, inability to sign big name players and the North London club’s failure to win a major trophy in the past six seasons.

Arsenal fans calling for Wenger to be sacked is one thing I have never really understood. Yes, he may not have won a trophy in the past six seasons, but that is not how his, or any other Premier League manager’s success should be measured.

Alex Ferguson aside, Arsene Wenger is the most successful manager in English football and last season would have been a good candidate for manager of the year.

Many ‘Gooners’ might like to see Arsenal change their philosophy and spend big, but they can't. They, and even Manchester United to an extent, struggle to match the financial powers of Chelsea and Man City. Both Arsene and Alex have to find an alternative way to compete and Wenger's way is the blueprint that others should follow.

The Frenchman has been adept at signing players like Thierry Henry and Emanuel Petit. Players, that for some reason the rest of the footballing world, undervalues. This transfer policy, added to Arsenal’s youth development, has seen the club finish in the Champions League places season after season, whilst also turning over a healthy profit. Compare that to the likes of Leeds United who spent big to make it into the top four and spiralled into financial turmoil as a result.

Investing in youth and developing players represents good economic sense.

It is something Alex Ferguson has also been successful at as well. Recent signing such as Ben Smalling, Phil Jones, Javier Hernandez and Shinji Kagawa all represent players whose values are going to rise. If they or Manchester United decide at some point to part ways, the club hasn’t lost any money. Cristiano Ronaldo was the same, signed for £12.24m and sold for £80m.

Take Van Persie as opposite to the rule. Let’s say Manchester City sign the Dutchman for £45m this summer. At the age of 28, the striker has got three 20 plus goal seasons in the Premier League ahead of him, at best.

At a stretch, and it is a big one, let's say that helps City to win three Premier League titles over the next three seasons. That is still a £15m investment per season, for just one player, without taking wages into account. It is fine for City, they can probably afford to spend upwards of £100 million a season to buy the Premier League title.

But does that represent success? Not when you record loses of £194.9m in the last financial year. In any other line of business that would be a catastrophe. And with UEFA bringing in financial fair play rules, which allow clubs to lose just £38.5m in total over the three years, it could be soon a catastrophe for City as well.

I hope that when UEFA implement their financial fair play rules in 2013 they manage to set it up and monitor it correctly.

This would see a shift in football power as Wenger and Ferguson get the benefits from their smart investments, while City and Chelsea count the costs of buying titles.

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