Ivan Gazidis has again sounded caution about Arsenal’s transfer business, referencing for the second time inside a week competitors that have more money than the Gunners.

Last week, the Arsenal Chief Executive spoke to ESPN about the way the club did business, and said, “We’re making progress in what is a fiercely competitive world, against competitors that have the capability to spend far more money than we do.”

Now, an interview with the New York Times, Gazidis has once more referenced clubs who have more money and said that Arsenal ‘cannot afford’ to make any mistakes with the money they spend.

“We would not be successful if we simply went out into the transfer market and tried to outgun our competitors,” he said.

“We’re run in a self-sustaining way, and a way that we believe in, because we believe it gives us certainty for the future, and enables us to plan our future with confidence.

“That means we can’t afford to make huge mistakes in the transfer market. We can’t afford to outgun competitors that have far more money to splurge on transfer fees than we do.

“So we have to be very careful, very selective about how we do things.”

It seems that being the club with the most cash in world football, boosted by a record television deal that has transformed almost every other Premier League club financially, still isn’t enough for Arsenal to throw off the financial shackles. One might even ask if it’s an edict from on-high.

Of course there are clubs with more money, but when it comes right down to it, we rarely compete with them when it comes to transfers. Fans are realistic enough to know that if one of the top European clubs is after the same player as us, they’ll usually win out, but the frustration comes from the fact Arsenal seem far too cautious and unwilling to use their resources as well as they can.

Pressed on further arrivals, Gazidis said, “We’re still active in the market, as are most other clubs, and if we find opportunities that our manager believes can improve our squad and add something to it, we’re certainly going to take those steps.

“But in terms of this week, I don’t think there will be any radical surprises.”

He also hinted at a greater emphasis on development of young players due to the fact buying from other Premier League clubs has become more difficult.

“In the past, the big clubs could financially bully the smaller clubs — it would be unthinkable that a smaller club would be able to hold on to its best player if Manchester United or Arsenal came knocking at the door.

“That dynamic is changing. And so the constraints within the Premier League are less and less about pure finances, and more and more relatively important become things like how well you identify players, how well you develop players, what kind of sports science you have, your analytics, your psychology.

“All of these support areas around what we do increasingly become bigger differentiators, because the money is not enough to blast the best talent toward you.”

You can read the full interview with Ivan Gazidis in the New York Times here.

We recommend consuming it with a nice cup of tea, a chocolate biscuit followed by a large shot of sweet, sweet morphine.