In a widely leaked interview with France Football, Arsene Wenger says he expects the new Ashburton Grove stadium to put Arsenal at the very top of European football. "No-one will be able to steal our players on financial grounds alone," he says.

But he warns that we could face a few years of relative inactivity on the transfer market, as the club puts all its spare cash into the building project. Quite rightly he points to what has happened recently at Ajax, who now have a world-class stadium but a relatively disappointing team by their standards.

"For the three or four years ahead, the club will have to manage (ahem) its investments," he says - "the question is whether Arsenal can continue at the highest level so they hold all the trump cards when they move into the new ground."

It certainly explains the summer's policy of buying young and relatively unproven starlets - notably Francis Jeffers - while the money is available... and surely provides some grounds for optimism among the increasingly restless youth ranks.