Wenger baffled by Chelsea spending
LONDON - Chelsea's billionaire Russian owner Roman Abramovich is bound to spend heavily again in the next transfer window after his "logic-defying" move to buy Fernando Torres, according to Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
The Premier League champions splashed out a combined £71 million on Liverpool striker Torres and Benfica defender David Luiz on Monday when they also posted an overall loss of £70 million in the year ending June 30.
European football's governing body UEFA is bringing in new "fair play" rules to stop clubs spending more than their income starting from the reporting period ending 2012 and Wenger was critical of Chelsea's huge outlay on Torres and Luiz.
"Chelsea supported the financial fair play [scheme] but in the morning they announce a £70 million loss and in the afternoon they buy £71 million worth of players. Where's the logic in that?," Wenger told British newspapers.
"I don't know if Abramovich is worried [about Chelsea's playing form] but that's how you read it from the outside. If you don't invest for a while it looks as if he is not involved but £71 million means more will come."
After a quiet period of transfer activity, Wenger said the Russian owner had decided to flex his financial muscle again.
"Abramovich was a bit in no man's land where nobody could guess whether he wanted to still invest or not," the Frenchman added. "But certainly that has changed.
"He has decided to put big money in again and it tells you that in the summer more will come."
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Chelsea are 10 points behind Premier League leaders Manchester United and five adrift of second-placed Arsenal, with 14 matches left to play this season.