Wenger admits United are stronger

Arsene Wenger, pictured, thinks Sir Alex Ferguson may struggle to juggle his strikers
18 August 2012

Arsene Wenger accepts Arsenal have made rivals Manchester United even stronger with the sale of captain Robin van Persie, but feels Sir Alex Ferguson is a "bit too confident" with talking up another Treble like in 1999.

Red Devils boss Ferguson believes his formidable frontline next season will be just like it was when Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer drove them on to domestic success, which was then capped by a remarkable late comeback in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich.

Wenger, though, feels juggling the likes of Javier Hernandez and Danny Welbeck alongside Van Persie and Wayne Rooney will not be as straight forwards as it sounds, and said: "Alex Ferguson is a bit too confident when he says 1999, but of course it increases their potential offensively because they got a world-class players."

He went on: "However, they also have a number of players - like Hernandez and Wellbeck - who have a restricted chance to play."

While Arsenal were prepared to make the 29-year-old Dutchman the highest-paid player in the club's history, it was again a case of being unable to match what was on offer elsewhere - with Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri also moving away last summer.

Wenger, however, firmly believes the days of clubs being bankrolled beyond their means are numbered, as UEFA look to implement financial fair play.

"It is a short-term problem, that the world cannot go on like that," said Wenger, who admitted midfielder Alex Song could yet join Barcelona before the end of the transfer window.

"You cannot imagine that the world will go on just splashing money out without any return, people will get tired of that because you will have just a few teams competing with each other.

"When you have lost the standard of living in life for normal people, the football world always gets higher and higher - that cannot last because people will not accept it."

The Arsenal boss added: "Financial Fair Play will make a big difference, how quickly I cannot answer because I am not responsible for putting it in place."

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