Arsene Wenger: 'Clubs stockpiling players a big problem'

Arsene Wenger said that stockpiling players and having dozens out on loan is one of the biggest problems in football as the Arsenal manager called for change and League One feeder clubs.

Published : Dec 28, 2016 14:57 IST

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is not comfortable with the current landscape of the loan system.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is not comfortable with the current landscape of the loan system.
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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is not comfortable with the current landscape of the loan system.

Arsene Wenger said that stockpiling players and having dozens out on loan is one of the biggest problems in football as the Arsenal manager called for change and League One feeder clubs.

Elite European clubs such as Chelsea has led the way in stockpiling talent, with no less than 30 players out on loan from the Premier League giants, while Italian champions Juventus also boast a big squad.

While Chelsea and Co. view it as the ideal way to develop talent, many believe it is another avenue to increase the player's market value.

Wenger is not comfortable with the current landscape of the loan system. "It is one of the big problems in the modern game," he told Arsenal magazine. 

"You've invested a lot of money into players because we're paying more and more money, and then at the age of 20 you don't usually get much money for any of the players, so the reflex is to stockpile the players. That's not right.

"When you look at the number of loans that happen here and there, the whole system has to be thought about again because we have two kinds of solution in there.

"The first is to continue developing players, the second step is just to make sure your investment is safe – that's not the right way to think about it but it's the natural reflex for the clubs."

Asked how he would change the system, Wenger added: "Maybe you could create a possibility for some clubs to own part of a League One club as a feeder club. After that, a limitation on the number of players on your books could work.

"The way a youth team is organised now is that all the best young players go to the richest clubs, which is where they have fewer chances to develop, so you have to make sure the system shares out the best young players equally.

"It's difficult because the development of the players depends on the concentration of the good players. The more good players you have together, the more chance they have of becoming even better players."

 

 

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