Arsene Wenger claims Anthony Martial signing cost Manchester United â?¬80m

Wenger only brought in Petr Cech from Chelsea this summer

Arsene Wenger used the example of Manchester United’s £36-million signing of Monaco forward Anthony Martial while discussing the current situation of the transfer market, as per his interview with beINSport.

The Arsenal gaffer claimed that the lack of proper options has forced big clubs to pay over the odds to improve their squads, while also going on to defend the Gunners from criticism regarding their lack of spending besides the £11 million signing of Petr Cech.

Martial became the most expensive teenager in the history of football when he signed for Manchester United on transfer deadline day. The fee that has been quoted in the media is reportedly only an initial payment for the player, as the worth of the deal is estimated to be around £59 million. Arsenal, on the other hand, failed to bring in any new players on transfer deadline day. This clearly irked the Arsenal supporters Trust, who went on to ask the club to conduct a full review their recruitment policy.

Wenger has reiterated time and time again that he would not spend big money on a player unless he adds something extra to the squad and used the Martial transfer as the context while defending the Gunner’s lack of summer activity.

"Monaco sold Martial to Man United last night for €80 million, I've heard,” Wenger said, as quoted on ESPN. “Martial has scored 11 goals in the French championship -- that sums it up."

"It's not the money that is missing at the moment, it's not the desire of investment that is missing, it's the number of players available who can strengthen the big clubs.

"So am I happy with the investment that I made [this summer]? Yes. Every time. I bought [Alexis] Sanchez, I bought [Mesut] Ozil, I bought Cech. I bought Gabriel last year, I bought [Mathieu] Debuchy.

"But when you have to invest, when you find the players to invest the money in, the problem at the moment is to find the players that guarantee that you are absolutely a better team after.

"That example last night shows you very well -- Martial is a huge talent, he's 19 years old. The investment is absolutely huge as well. That shows you there are not many players in the world who can strengthen these teams."

Wenger gave his views on FFP

Wenger also spoke about the relaxation of the Financial Fair Play rules, after UEFA punished Manchester City and Paris St. Germain last season for their violations. The two cash-rich clubs still spent big money despite the sanctions, with City spending almost 150m and the Qatar-owned club with 85 million worth of arrivals this season.

I'm not against Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain being able to buy players, but you would like the financial fair play rules to be known before the transfer period starts," he said. "And the rules have been a bit accommodated during the transfer period.

"I cannot give you an answer as to what the real significance of financial fair play is. It's too complicated to be efficient and too complicated for everybody to understand the rules, which is why I think there is a need to simplify the whole process.

He went on to add: "I don't think clubs like Arsenal are being penalised, but I think well-run clubs should be a normality, that every club should live with the resources it produces. At the end of the day, what is a big club and a small club? A big club should be a club with the biggest fan base and which works best in its decisions."