Arsenal confirmed more than 200 million cash reserves

Arsenal have almost £200m in the bank after making an increased profit
of £25m last year, the Premier League club's latest accounts have
revealed.
The figures, covering the year ending 31 May 2015, show the Gunners
spent a record £114m on new players.
But they have been criticised by some fans for only making one signing -
keeper Petr Cech - over the summer.
"We're focused on delivering more success," said Arsenal chief executive
Ivan Gazidis.
The cash reserves of £193.1m are intended to cover costs for a full season
and are not solely designated for player transfers.
However, the Arsenal Independent Supporters' Association insists the
strong financial figures must be matched by positive results on the pitch.
Arsene Wenger's team lost 2-1 at Dinamo Zagreb in their Champions
League opener on Wednesday.
"The financial figures will only add fuel to the fire for those calling for
further squad investment," said AISA chair Lois Langton.
Profit before tax was £24.7m, up from £4.7m in 2014, while the north
London club say they have no short-term debt.
Total turnover was £344.5m - an increase of £42.6m from the previous
year, boosted by a new kit partnership with Puma.
"We continue to look to develop every aspect of our operations while
remaining true to our principles around being self-funding, investing in
youth, our style of play and our commitment to our fans and to our place in
the community," added Gazidis.

Arsène Wenger: No excuses for the Chelsea game

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says his side have no "cheap excuses"
regarding a lack of preparation time for Saturday's game at Chelsea.
Their Premier League game at Stamford Bridge kicks off at 12:45 BST.
The Gunners were beaten in Croatia by Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions
League on Wednesday, the same day the Blues beat Maccabi Tel Aviv at
home.
"I don't use that as an excuse," said Wenger. "I believe we are in a position
where we can perform."
Wenger aims for 'full power'
Wenger made six changes in Zagreb as he dropped keeper Petr Cech, left-
back Nacho Monreal, midfielder Francis Coquelin and forward Theo
Walcott to the bench, while midfielder Aaron Ramsey and right-back
Hector Bellerin were not in the squad.
Ramsey and Bellerin are back in contention to play Chelsea, while Wenger
says he has yet to decide whether Olivier Giroud, who was sent off in
Croatia, or Walcott will start.
"I stand up for my selection and take responsibility for it," added the
Frenchman. "I believe we can repair what happened.
"We are on a good run in the Premier League and it is important now to
look at that.
"Every defeat hurts but every defeat is also an opportunity to respond in a
very strong way."
Wenger refused to go into his fractious relationship with Chelsea
counterpart Jose Mourinho or the struggling start his 17th-placed rivals
have had.
"I do not consider too much where Chelsea stands at the moment and I'm
focused more on us performing well with full power," he said.

Uefa champions league team of the week

GK
Buffon - Juventus

DEFENDERS
Florenzi - AS Roma
Pivaric - Dynamo Zagreb
Bonucci - Juventus
Dante - Wolfsburg

MIDFIELDERS
Hakan - Bayer Leverkusen
Gaitan - Benfica
Di Maria - PSG

ATTACKERS
Griezmann - Atl Madrid
Hulk - Zenith St Petersburg
Ronaldo - Real Madrid

Kevin De Bruyne: Mourinho only spoke to me twice

Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne claims he only spoke to Jose
Mourinho twice during his ill-fated six months under the Portuguese
manager at Chelsea.
De Bruyne is desperate to prove himself in England with a reported fee of
£55million hanging over his head at City, plus his previous struggles to
make an impact at Stamford Bridge.
The Premier League can be a brutal place with plenty of talented
footballers having been branded failures by the English media and fans for
poor stints in England, despite having had successful careers elsewhere
both before and after.
Think Shinji Kagawa at Manchester United or Andre Schurrle at Chelsea.
But De Bruyne said his critics forget he first joined Chelsea at just 20
years of age, while he was at the club during the tenures of three separate
managers - Andre Villas-Boas, Roberto Di Matteo and Mourinho - over
just two years.
Now at the Etihad Stadium, De Bruyne insists he is a more mature
individual, while he said a lack of communication gave him little chance
under Mourinho.
"You can't compare with me two years ago at Chelsea," De Bruyne said on
Friday.
"It's a different situation and I am a completely different person. I was
younger and just didn't play that much. I wasn't even on the bench.
"I didn't get any explanation. I only talked with him twice, Mourinho. That
was before a game against Basel in November, where he said I was doing
better and that I would get my chance.
"And then again one week before January, that's the day I said I wanted to
go out because, even if I was training better, I was not getting any minutes.
So for me it was better to go."
De Bruyne was sold to Wolfsburg and after an impressive season-and-a-
half back in the Bundesliga - where he had previously played on loan from
Chelsea at Werder Bremen - the Belgium international earned a big-
money move to City.
He is relishing his second chance in the Premier League.
"You know there is going to be a lot of pressure," he said.
"When I was coming here, the first thing I said to everyone was that when I
get to England I will have to prove that I am a good player.
"I know everyone will talk about the money. It was the same in Belgium
when I was with the national team for two weeks. They only talked about
how much City paid to Wolfsburg, and how much I am going to earn."
While De Bruyne concedes he was perhaps impatient for game-time at
Chelsea, the 24-year-old said he may have played "too much" at
Wolfsburg last term and is happy enough to be rotated by City manager
Manuel Pellegrini.
The former Genk youth player is also happy to play out wide at City as he
knows David Silva is Pellegrini's main option in the number 10 role.
"Even though I played as number 10 a lot at Wolfsburg, I was the guy who
was drifting out a lot to the sides. You have to be a little bit open-minded,
not fixed on one position," De Bruyne said.
"I'm not somebody who talks a lot with the coach. Of course, you want to
know sometimes what he thinks and what you need to do, or what he thinks
you need to do.
"That was maybe the biggest part that went wrong at Chelsea."

Ferguson: I wanted to continue as United manager but

Alex Ferguson said he would have definitely carried on as Manchester
United manager if it was not for the death of his wife's sister.
Ferguson called time on his tenure in 2013 after winning 38 trophies in 26
glorious years at Old Trafford.
The 73-year-old's retirement, despite is age, surprised many and the Scot
said he had no plans to retire but he wanted to be by wife Cathy's side
following the death of her twin sister Bridget Robertson three years ago.
"I definitely would have carried on," Ferguson told the Telegraph.
"I saw she [Cathy Ferguson] was watching television one night, and she
looked up at the ceiling. I knew she was isolated. Her and Bridget were
twins, you know?
"But when I told her this time I was going to retire she had no objection
whatsoever. I knew she wanted me to do it."
David Moyes was swiftly appointed as Ferguson's replacement in May
2013 but his countryman's reign was short-lived, sacked less than a year
into a six-year deal after overseeing United's worst ever Premier League
season.
There were suggestions Moyes - since replaced by Louis van Gaal - was
left with a declining squad, who had claimed a 20th Premier League title
the season prior with Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra and
Robin van Persie on board, but Ferguson strongly disagreed.
Ferguson added: "Even when I knew I was retiring we still tried to put
some things in place, with players coming in.
"Like everything I say about Manchester United, the bus was still moving
forward. No one was getting left behind. Everyone was optimistic about
where we were going."