ARSENE WENGER has told Arsenal’s disgruntled fans that they will never force his hand into spending big.
Arsenal are set to announce the £52million signings of Valencia defender Shkodran Mustafi and Deportivo La Coruna striker Lucas Perez
The double deals will bring an end to the growing pressure on the Gunners manager ahead of Wednesday night’s transfer window deadline.
Arsenal initially turned down the chance to sign Perez last month and Wenger had previously also been reluctant to pay over the odds to sign Mustafi, despite the club’s defensive crisis.
The sudden change of heart had raised suspicions that Arsenal were panic buying and bowing to unrest among their disgrunteld supporters.
But Wenger said: “Look at my face. Am I the face of somebody who does a panic buy?
"I am happy when our supporters are happy but my focus is on strengthening the squad in the right way. If you look at the last season for example, it is not necessarily the club who bought the most that is in front.
"It is my job to make the right decisions for the team and the club. At the end of the season you will see if I made it.”
Asked if he gets stopped in the street by supporters urging him splash the cash to keep pace with their big-spending rivals, Wenger added: “Yes, many times. But it’s never aggressive. It’s quite a difference between the people I meet when I go out where. People are usually nice and supportive.
"Now people have been addicted to news. We live in a society where we need always new faces, hope for the future.
"You want to dream and fear as well because the other clubs buy, you don’t buy. There is fear to be behind the others.
"My job is to resist stress and pressure, while keeping my head in the blue.
"What has changed from the ‘80s to today is that transparency has become unlimited. Everybody knows who is available, who you should buy. I’ve always said it’s not a question of numbers.
"But who has finished in the market? Nobody. Everybody is waiting, I think, to get the deals done.”
Spanish striker Perez, whose raw pace has drawn comparisons to former target Jamie Vardy, has flown in to the capital to complete his £17million move to Emirates.
While the long-running pursuit of Mustafi is also finally close to a conclusion with the German centre-back expected to arrive for £35m.
Wenger said: “Perez is a late developer, he played in a different position. He moved centrally in a successful way.
"He has good link up qualities, good quality of receptions, good finishing qualities.
"Mustafi was Valencia’s captain. If we get it done we get what we wanted.”
With only one point from their two Premier League games, Arsenal can ill-afford to slip up again and fall further behind their rivals ahead of today’s trip to Watford.
Their head coach Walter Mazzarri uses an interpreter at press conferences, so perhaps something was lost in translation when he said that he likes the “English culture” of giving managers plenty of time to build a team.
Watford, remember, have had eight different men in charge of their first team since the Pozzo family bought the club in summer 2012.
"When I spoke to the president he gave me a three-year contract,” said Mazzarri. “He believed in me. Instead of one year or two years as often happened, he wanted to start a new cycle with me and give me three years.”
Meanwhile, former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry has been named as an assistant to new Belgium coach Roberto Martinez.
Henry, a member of France’s 1998 World Cup winning team, will be part of the backroom staff alongside Graeme Jones, who was Martinez’s assistant at Swansea, Wigan and Everton.
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