Arsenal's new chief executive today insisted Arsene Wenger will have money to spend in the summer, regardless of the credit crunch or the £15million outlay on Andrey Arshavin.

Ivan Gazidis formally succeeded David Dein last month and played an influential role in securing the playmaker from Zenit St Petersburg.

Football transfer spending reached record levels in January but Gazidis predicts the market will soon reflect the global economic downturn and the Gunners will be well-placed to compete for new players.

Gazidis, the former deputy commissioner of Major League Soccer, said: "This club have always supported Arsene Wenger in what he's wanted to do and we will continue to do that.

"Having said that, the summer transfer market is going to be interesting. There will be opportunities out there for all clubs that have managed themselves well. For those that haven't it's going to be a very challenging environment.

"One of the things that's surprised me about football since the Bosman decision has been that transfer fees have not rationalized themselves. I expected that transfer fees would go down and player salaries would go up after Bosman. And what we've seen is that both have gone up.

"At some point the amounts of money involved become so large and the pool of owners that can play at that level become so small that it's no longer able to sustain itself. We will continue to be rational in our investments."

Wenger has been persistently linked with a move to Real Madrid at the end of his contract, which expires next summer. Despite admitting no new deal has yet been discussed, Gazidis remains confident the Frenchman will commit his future to the club.

He said: "We haven't had that discussion yet and I am not concerned about it. At the right time we will talk about that. I have only been in the position for effectively a month but we'd like to keep him for as long as he has the drive to do it."

Arsenal have been blighted by boardroom instability in recent times, most notably culminating in Nina Bracewell-Smith's departure from the board last December.

Russian Alisher Usmanov has fuelled speculation of a takeover after his Red and White Holdings company increased its shareholding in the club to 25 per cent - just five per cent short of the point at which he would be obligated to make an offer for the club.

With Wenger having enjoyed such a close working relationship with Dein, Gazidis has a tough act to follow in challenging times and admits he is still adjusting to his new surroundings.

He said: "The boardroom is a dynamic that I am not fully familiar with yet. But it is important to this club that it is run on a self-sustaining basis.

"What that does is release you from the day-to-day pressures of anything that may be happening at board level. All of the board members with whom I interact are all very focused on the self-sustaining model. But I am trying hard not to fall flat on my face.

"There is a tremendous sense of responsibility you have in a position like this and I feel the weight of that.

"It is not just a job. You have the hopes and expectations of not only so many people but also history.

"If I can walk away someday, hopefully a long time from now, and say I did not let the club down then I will feel pretty good about myself."