Thursday 16 July 2015 06:07, UK
Arsene Wenger insists Arsenal will never need to sell their best players again and can finally compete with the best teams in Europe financially.
High-profile departures Samir Nasri, Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie, Emmanuel Adebayor and Gael Clichy came during a trophyless nine-year period at the club.
Under pressure to spend at the Emirates, Wenger has made marquee signings in each of the last two summers in Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez, and the Frenchman says there will be no more big-money sales.
Wenger said: "The time where we had to sell our best players is over for sure.
"We had five or six years where we were financially restricted, we had to balance the books and we had to pay the stadium back. This time has gone.
"It was a very sensitive period, and mentally a difficult period, but now we are over that.
"Now we are competing with everybody on the financial front and I think we can keep our best players."
Despite Wenger's positive outlook for the future of Arsenal, he admits the transfer window is a bugbear of his in modern times, and says a team formed over several seasons will be most successful.
"Many clubs now in Europe have huge resources and more money available than players," he said.
"That's why it is not easy. I leave international players on the bench every week. It has to be exceptional potential to come in now.
"The transfer period is a very difficult period because we live in a society where people just want new. What's new? What do you buy?
"The credit you get is just linked with the amount of money you spend or players you buy.
"We forget that football is as well a construction, patience, hard work on the pitch, cohesion.
"Cohesion is a very important factor but it is just neglected at the moment.
"And most of the time, the teams who stay for a long period together are successful."
