ARSENAL MANAGER Arsene Wenger has admitted his frustration at the modern transfer market that increasingly makes "mercenaries" of players, with the Frenchman apparently conceding Arsenal will lose players each summer as the club continue to pay for their new stadium.
Barcelona expect to secure the signings of Emmanuel Adebayor and Aleksandr Hleb this week. Adebayor has three years to run on his contract at the Emirates but has sent out mixed messages all summer suggesting he would be better paid abroad.
Barca are ready to pay €38 million for him and a deal is likely to be concluded imminently with the Catalans' economic vice-president Ferran Soriano saying last Friday that "next week there will be news on Andrei Arshavin, Hleb and Adebayor".
"If I had the power to change anything in football, it would be the transfer system which makes mercenaries of players," Wenger was quoted as saying at the weekend. "If they are bad ones they stay. If they are good, they think only of leaving."
The Arsenal manager will still have funds to secure fresh blood - there is interest in Blackburn's Roque Santa Cruz, the Newcastle forward Obafemi Martins and Klaus Jan Huntelaar at Ajax - and he could yet compete with Barcelona for Arshavin.
Barca remain the only club to have submitted a formal bid for Arshavin, though the player's agent has suggested that Arsenal have expressed interest. His agent Dennis Lachter said Zenit St Petersburg would want at least €30 million for him.
Meanwhile, Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani claims Ronaldinho has rejected a lucrative offer from Manchester City, despite the English club offering twice what the Italian giants can.
Milan and City have both vigorously pursued the signature of Ronaldinho this summer after Barcelona announced they were open to offers for the Brazil playmaker, but the Rossoneri are short on cash and have admitted they cannot compete financially with City's offer.
However, the player himself has said publicly that he would prefer a move to Milan or even Chelsea, and Galliani claims he has made good on that claim by turning down a higher wage - reportedly up to €250,000 a week - from City to focus instead on a move to Milan. Galliani added the main stumbling block in any deal to bring him to Milan would be Ronaldinho's wages, not the transfer fee.
"He is not in the plans of (Barcelona coach Pep) Guardiola, so he has a more favourable price," Galliani said. "But the problem is the wages. For us to be able to afford him, the transfer fee would have to be close to nothing."
Brazil boss Carlos Dunga has said Ronaldinho will play for AC Milan next season as that is the player's wish.
