Arsenal chairman talks up title hopes

Chairman Peter Hill-Wood believes Arsenal can win the Premier League for the first time since 2004 after starting the season unbeaten.

The Gunners drew 0-0 against Sunderland and Stoke City before beating Liverpool 2-0 and, while Hill-Wood is unconcerned by their trophy drought, he thinks they can challenge for silverware this season.

“We have a pretty good chance of challenging for the Premiership,” he told the London Evening Standard.

“I don’t see why we cannot win it this year.

“It is not a worry to the board that we haven’t won a trophy since 2005. It would be lovely to win but it’s not that easy. Liverpool haven’t won the title for 20-odd years.

“We’re very ambitious and want to win but, if you don’t have billions of petro-dollars to throw around, you’re going to have to do it some other way. That’s what we’re trying to do – with skilful selection of players. As for Walcott, he did not accept our offer so nothing is happening.”

Arsenal made a net profit from the sale of key first-teamers Robin van Persie and Alex Song during the summer, raising questions over Arsene Wenger’s desire to spend to improve the squad.

Hill-Wood also moved to confirm the club is in a comfortable financial state, before addressing Chelsea and Manchester City’s effect on the market.

“Arsene has money to spend but there’s a limit,” he said.

“We can’t spend 50 million pounds on one player.

“At a certain level, we can’t compete. I don’t think Stan Kroenke (the American owner) is going to put the sort of dollars in that (Roman) Abramovich or Sheikh Mansour are putting into Chelsea or Manchester City. That’s not the way he thinks clubs should be run.

“Luckily, Arsene understands that. He got an economics degree from Strasbourg University so he’s certainly no fool. He knows how a club should be run.

“That annoys a lot of people but clubs have to be sustainable. We’re not going to go bankrupt in the way one or two other well-known clubs have.

“The Glasgow Rangers example is something we’ve all got to guard against. They spent far more money than they could afford.

“We’re ambitious enough but we’re not going to end in the same plight as Rangers. That is a fact of life. So my advice is don’t get miserable about it.”