Blog

Arsène Wenger thinks his team can surpass Chelsea next year unless his rivals buy big over the summer. .Photograph: Nick Potts/PA

Arsène Wenger has claimed that Arsenal are the only one of the big four on the rise and he showed his determination to retain his best players this summer by declaring that Cesc Fábregas would be misguided to move to Barcelona because the "unwatchable" Spanish league "is in complete disarray".

Arsenal's campaign seems set to conclude, for the fifth year in a row, without a trophy but Wenger maintained that his methods have been vindicated and that, given injuries to key players, the season has been successful, although he also said that Wednesday's defeat in the north London derby left his team with "only hope, not a realistic view" of overtaking the leaders, Chelsea.

"The other night [after defeat by Tottenham] I went home and thought I was stupid because I was hugely disappointed," said Wenger. "But I think overall you try to bring a team as high as they can and this year I have a done a good job [given] what happened to us. Playing in the top three, with all the competition around us, you cannot say the policy hasn't paid off. Yes, you cannot parade in the street with a trophy but you cannot say that what we have done and the way we have achieved it hasn't paid off."

Wenger suggested that, with Manchester United and Liverpool constrained by debt, only a further instance of what he calls "financial doping" can keep Chelsea ahead of Arsenal next season. "We are the most on the up," he said. "The only difference is that tomorrow Abramovich can go out and buy 10 players because he has the financial potential. If Chelsea were run like every other club, he couldn't do it. That's the difference. On the curve we are going up, that is for sure, and they are going down; that is sure as well because they have six or seven players over 30. But Abramovich can just say, 'Today I will buy seven 24-year-old players.'" Asked whether Manchester City were also "on the up", Wenger replied: "They are on a serious cheque book."

Wenger acknowledged that Arsenal are likely to open their own cheque book this summer, admitting the club needs to reinforce its defence. "I don't deny that," said Wenger, "and you could see that again on Wednesday night. It was a game we had to win but we couldn't win, so we're not there but on the other hand we're not far. It is difficult to see whether we need to buy because we were without Gallas, Fábregas, Van Persie and Arshavin. But we need to add something defensively because I believe in the big games we were too vulnerable."

Wenger is keen to persuade William Gallas to sign a new contract when his deal expires in the summer but he refused to countenance breaking the club's rigid wage structure. "We'll always keep our policy," he said. "We manage within our resources."

The player Wenger would be most loth to lose this summer would be the team's chief conductor, Fábregas. This week the 22-year-old has again been linked with a return to Spain, with Barcelona refusing to rule out a bid for a player they nurtured and reports that Real Madrid are preparing an offer. Wenger, however, said the Primera Liga is vastly inferior to thePremier League and any player who moves there would be taking a downward step.

"I watched Real Madrid against Almeria [on Thursday] and turned off after 30 minutes – it was unwatchable," he said. "I can't see anyone who has a competitive edge going to Spain. They have two good teams but the third team is 21 points behind and this week the players threatened to go on strike because they are not paid. It's a league that is in complete disarray. If you are competitive you stay in England, that's where the competition is and that's where the best players want to be."