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It is difficult not to agree with what Arsène Wenger says, unless you are a Tottenham Hotspur fan. The Arsenal manager has become a hate figure for Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool supporters, too, but few neutrals will shed a tear if his team win the title next May for the first time since 2004.

While Chelsea hand out multimillion-pound contracts to 30-year-olds and United haggle over paying £25 million or £30 million for one player, Wenger is happy to look out for the odd bargain - in Barclays Premier League terms - and relying on the conveyor belt of talent rolling out of the Arsenal youth academy. Sylvain Wiltord, bought for £13 million in 2000, is the most expensive player signed by Wenger in his tenure of almost 12 years.

“Manchester United are in the £20 million to £30 million price bracket, Chelsea are in the unlimited bracket and we are in our own bracket,” Wenger said as his team prepared for today's match at home to West Bromwich Albion. “We balance the budget. Three or four years ago we came to a different policy. We've opted for stability, with young players who have the spirit of our game and of our club. We can show that we are more united, that we have the belief.”

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Players such as Cesc Fàbregas and Emmanuel Adebayor have become superstars since Wenger plucked them from relative obscurity, but according to rumours, both are concerned that Arsenal have not been punching their weight in the transfer market this summer. Wenger's reply? Do not believe the rumours. Adebayor has signed a lucrative new deal and Fàbregas is not about to leave.

“The job of the media is to imagine the worst and the job of the manager is to imagine the best, so there is always a difference,” Wenger said. “If I go into a season and say, ‘For f**k's sake, if we don't win anything, they will all leave,' we are already beaten.”

Arsenal lost only three times in the Premier League last season and were heading for the title until Eduardo Da Silva's horrendous injury and William Gallas's hissy fit in the 2-2 draw away to Birmingham City in February. Wenger blamed bad luck and injuries as United pipped Chelsea to the title, but this season he promises that his team will be less nervous and more up for it, even though Chelsea have flexed their financial muscle by tying Frank Lampard, 30, to a five-year contract worth up to £140,000 a week.

“Everybody is free to do what they want,” Wenger said. “I have my thinking, and my thinking is that we give contracts to players until they are 32 and after that we assess the situation.”

According to Wenger, Arsenal were a fraction short last season, but spending £30 million on one player is not the way to close the four-point gap on United or win the Champions League for the first time. “English teams will dominate Europe less this season than last year because Real Madrid and Barcelona are not just going to watch English clubs dominate the Champions League,” he said. “At the Ajax tournament last weekend, you were allowed 18 players on the bench and Inter Milan needed a double bench for their players. These teams have the resources.”

Arsenal have changed beyond recognition since Wenger arrived in North London in 1996. They play the beautiful game in arguably the best stadium in the world and they prove every weekend that money is not everything. So, why do those Tottenham, Chelsea and United fans dislike him? If it is because he is not a good loser, will the Premier League's Respect campaign affect his behaviour?

“When you go to the church on Sunday, the priest says that you have to be generous and respectful, but real life starts when people come out of the church,” Wenger said. “In pre-season everybody wants to respect everybody and then, when there are points at stake, everything is different.”