Arsene Wenger: Manchester United's signing of Anthony Martial 'sums up' lack of quality in market

Martial became the world's most expensive teenager as he joined United from Monaco in a deadline day that could eventually be worth up to £58 million - that, despite the fact that the 19-year-old has only made 52 appearances in Ligue 1.

Wenger believes that Martial's move to Old Trafford only goes to show how the market has changed with promising players commanding huge transfer fees.

"What happened last night with Monaco, who sold Martial to Manchester United for €80 million, I’ve heard. Martial scored 11 goals in the French championship - that sums it up all well,” Wenger told beIN Sports.

"That means it’s not the money that’s missing at the moment, it’s not the desire of investment that’s missing, it’s the number of players available who can strengthen the big clubs.

"So am I happy with the investment I make? Yes. Every time, I bought [Alexis] Sanchez, I bought [Mesut] Ozil, I bought [Petr] Cech, I bought Gabriel last year, [Mathieu] Debuchy, but when you have to invest when you find the players you have to invest the money.

"The problem at the moment is to find the players that guarantees that you are a better team after," he added.

"Martial is a huge talent, he’s 19 years old, the investment is absolutely huge as well, that shows you that there’s not many players in the world who can strengthen these teams."

Wenger also accused UEFA of forgetting the Financial Fair Play rules with the regulations now seemingly nowhere near as tight as they once were.

"After that, if I ask you, or you ask me ‘what is the real significance, today, of Financial Fair Play?’ I cannot give you the answer. I’m sure you will not be completely capable to do it as well.

"So the Financial Fair Play today is too complicated day to be efficient, and too complicated for everybody to understand the rules, and that’s why there’s a need to simplify the whole process.

"No, not being penalised. Well-run clubs just should be a normality. Every club should use the resources it produces and what is at the end of the day, the size of the club, a big club, a small club - the big club should be the club with the biggest fan base and works the best in its decision."

Wenger is completely right: the market has gone completely crazy. No one seems to have any idea how the Financial Fair Play system works or what has really changed and players are being sold for vast figures with only potential and promise to show for it. Having said that, Wenger's quotes provide an interesting insight into the way he is thinking and it is not overly encouraging for Arsenal fans. Seemingly determined to always get value for money with every signing, the Frenchman risks seeing his side slip further behind their Premier League rivals as he bemoans the current state of play and how others operate. In many ways, Wenger needs to embrace the market as it currently exists, not cling to an ideal view of how things once were.