There is a banner unfurled at every Arsenal match that reads “Arsene knows”. As a tribute to the judgment of one of the greatest managers of his generation, it is perfect, a simple, reassuring mantra designed to keep at bay the kneejerk reactions that characterise an era of impatience.

In recent weeks, some of the knowledge that Arsène Wenger has imparted has been frightening. Recently, he was quoted as saying that Arsenal’s strategy is “to sell every year and to buy less expensive players . . . while having to free up, for 17 more years, an annual surplus of £24 million to pay for the stadium”. Depending on your view, this was either an affirmation of what was apparent or a shocking exposé of the financial constraints under which he is working. Either way, in a summer when Mathieu Flamini, Gilberto Silva and Alexander Hleb have left, with Emmanuel Adebayor possibly to follow, it will have sent a shiver down the spine of many an Arsenal supporter.

What is the point of Arsenal? The question sounds flippant, but to judge from some of the noises coming out of the Emirates Stadium this summer, the club’s raison d’être is no longer clear. They left Highbury partly to accommodate a growing support, but above all, according to David Dein, the former vice-chairman, “to compete financially with Chelsea, Manchester United and Real Madrid”.

Deloitte’s latest world football rich list has them in an impressive fifth place, with their revenues having increased by 37 per cent since leaving Highbury in 2006, and their next set of figures is likely to illustrate a further improvement. But to what end? If the goal is a healthy balance sheet, perfect. If it is success on the pitch, then it is a business plan that requires Wenger to perform miracles that may be beyond even his powers.

As a football business, Arsenal are brilliantly run, a model for others to aspire to, but for their strategy to succeed on the pitch, Wenger, to borrow a phrase from Rafael BenÍtez, the Liverpool manager, has to be perfect. While he may enjoy operating with one hand behind his back, which allows him to indulge in the developing and nurturing of technically talented young players, he is also a fearsome competitor who bristles at his team’s failure to win a trophy since 2005. Last season, having sold Thierry Henry to Barcelona, they challenged for the Barclays Premier League, finishing only four points behind Manchester United, the winners, and the Champions League, in which they lost to Liverpool in the quarter-finals, but it was a story of falling short when it mattered.

Next season is unlikely to be any easier. Like Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, Wenger has a knack of choosing the right moment to sell players (as with Emmanuel Petit, Marc Overmars, Patrick Vieira, Henry and countless others), but this is not the time that he would have chosen to lose Flamini, 24, Hleb, 27, and possibly Adebayor, 24. Flamini and Hleb would have stayed had they been offered the kind of wages that they will receive at AC Milan and Barcelona respectively. Wenger agrees with Arsenal’s stance on wages, a stance that is admirable in just about every respect, but while Arsenal may believe that they cannot afford to pay players sums in the region of £100,000 a week, it is reaching the stage when it may be more pertinent to ask whether they can afford not to.

Samir Nasri, the talented young France midfield player, has joined from Marseilles, but Wenger has suggested that further additions would “kill” the youngsters who are at the club. The Arsenal production line is remarkable, with Fran Mérida and Carlos Vela likely to break into the first-team squad this season after spells on loan to Real Sociedad and Osasuna respectively, while Cesc Fàbregas, Theo Walcott and others aim to build on the progress they have made. But when they develop into world-class players, will Arsenal be willing to pay what is needed to get the most out of them or will they sell them on, replacing them with inexpensive, if supremely talented, youngsters? The experiences of Flamini, Hleb and possibly Adebayor suggest that Fàbregas, for example, may have to move if he is to optimise his earning capacity, as all players like to do at some stage.

This was not meant to happen. Peter Hill-Wood, the Arsenal chairman, said before the stadium move that there was “no danger of a lack of money for players”, while Danny Fiszman, a director, said that “Arsène’s budget will not be affected in any way by this project”. But Wenger’s budget has been affected, dramatically, and it is testament to his genius that he continues to produce teams who can challenge for the leading honours. There is quite a difference, though, between challenging for trophies and winning them. And deep down, you suspect that Wenger knows that.

A fair assessment?

For those who are still wondering what Manchester City did to earn the right to a Uefa Cup qualifying tie against EB/Streymur, it is to do with English football’s fair-play record in European competition and City’s fair-play record within the Barclays Premier League. Points in five criteria are awarded on a match-by-match basis by Premier League delegates and last season’s table throws up some interesting findings.

Arsenal are in first place for positive play and Derby County and Sunderland are joint last; Sunderland are first for behaviour of officials (take a bow, Roy Keane) and Blackburn Rovers are last; in terms of respect towards opponents, Tottenham Hotspur are first and Middlesbrough are last; and for respect towards referees, Fulham and Manchester City are joint first and Chelsea last.

Can Luiz Felipe Scolari remove the snarling face of Chelsea? It may be his greatest challenge.

Green with envy

Is it possible to sympathise with a middling goalkeeper who earns £28,000 a week? When it is Robert Green at West Ham United, yes. Green had the misfortune to join West Ham in the summer of 2006, rather than the next year, when the East London club’s new board was making Lucas Neill, Fredrik Ljungberg, Scott Parker, Kieron Dyer and Craig Bellamy some of the Barclays Premier League’s biggest earners. None performed as impressively as Green last season, but the board feels that a sixth wrong would not make a right.

Wrong impression

A Sven-Göran Eriksson impersonator has been causing havoc in Mexico, where the Swede has taken over as coach of the national team. Could that same impersonator be behind the slumps that accompanied the end of his spells in charge of England and Manchester City?

The quality of Mersey

Last week another “breakaway” club, AFC Liverpool, were born and they will start the new season in the Vodkat League first division, only nine promotions off the Barclays Premier League and three divisions below FC United of Manchester, who, having won promotion in each of their first three seasons, are, in theory, three years away from the Football League.

The contrast is that, whereas FC United have met with hostility from Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, and just about everyone else at Old Trafford, with United falling out with the Manchester Evening News over the space devoted to the “rebel club”, AFC Liverpool, run along similar lines by disenfranchised supporters, have been welcomed into existence by Liverpool, who are even running features on their “little brother” on their website.

To paraphrase, Lyndon Johnson, the former US President, it is surely far better to have them inside the tent, p***ing out, than outside the tent, p***ing in.

Left wrong-footed

When José Bosingwa, the new Chelsea right back, cited Morten Gamst Pedersen as his most feared opponent in English football, it called to mind the interview in which Tony Blair picked out Steed Malbranque and Arjan de Zeeuw as two of his favourite Premier League players. More than that, though, it not only proved that full backs do not like facing orthodox wingers, but that there is also a dearth of top-class left-sided players in the Barclays Premier League.

Of the most prominent left wingers in the Premier League, Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani, Joe Cole and Ryan Babel are primarily right-footed, as is Alexander Hleb, who has left Arsenal to play for Barcelona. A genuine left winger in full flow is a rare sight these days, so what price a fit Damien Duff, who scored a hat-trick for Newcastle United in a preseason friendly match against Hartlepool United on Saturday?

Ronaldo misses a trick

Shock of the week: that Cristiano Ronaldo failed to appear last week at Vale do Lobo, on the Algarve, where Real Madrid were holding their preseason training camp. Someone missed a trick there.

Maybe Ronaldo’s nonappearance was a sign that Sir Alex Ferguson had finally got through to the player, but the Manchester United manager’s quotes about their meeting in Lisbon hardly concealed the Portugal forward’s continuing desire to leave Old Trafford for Madrid. If, as it seems, Ronaldo is persuaded or indeed forced to stay, it is only likely to be for one more season.