Arsenal news: Gunners can now compete with big-spending rivals, insists Ivan Gazidis

Arsenal can begin to compete with their big-spending rivals when it comes to player wages, says Ivan Gazidis, as the club look to extend the contracts of Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Hector Bellerin.
Ozil and Sanchez are out of contract in 2018 and they have been in negotiations with the club since September about signing improved deals.
The Gunners struggled to compete with the wages on offer at the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea in the years after their move from Highbury to the Emirates Stadium.

As a result, manager Arsene Wenger saw key players such as Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and Robin van Persie leave the club for European sides with greater financial muscle.
However, chief executive Gazidis has now given a more positive assessment of the finances available to Wenger, despite claiming in an interview in July that the Gunners “can’t afford to outgun competitors that have far more money than we do.”
Speaking at Arsenal’s AGM on Monday, Gazidis said: “We have a good track record in recent seasons of retaining our key players, developing young players and attracting new players.
“We are now beginning to compete in terms of wages with some of those clubs around us. There is continual growth in investment in wages but also in transfer fees.

Ivan Gazidis the CEO of Arsenal (Getty Images)

“Very importantly our player sales have reduced so we have retained more of our important players. We've had funds available to pay market values and as a result the reliance we have had on transfer revenue has gone down dramatically.
“I can't get into a discussion on individual players but I can assure you we will apply the same focus, rigour and diligence to members of our current squad and I think you can see the direction of travel.
“Overall we have attracted some global talent - Sanchez and Ozil are renowned names.
“We increasingly believe we have constructed a squad that is capable of competing for the very highest honours in the game.”