Almunia tells Wenger to work harder on Arsenal signings

Manuel Almunia has piled the pressure on Arsene Wenger by urging the Arsenal boss to "work harder" to deliver success to the club.

Gunners chief executive Ivan Gazidis has already left Wenger in no doubt that more is expected this term than last season's scramble for fourth and the team's surrender in both the Champions League and the FA Cup semi-finals.

Wenger is also coming under fire from supporters angry at his apparent unwillingness to break the bank to make a marquee signing this summer.

Arsenal's biggest shareholder Alisher Usmanov insisted yesterday that the club just do not have the cash to compete for the title after his offer to spend £60million on big names was rejected.

And the Frenchman is facing a constant battle to hold on to skipper Cesc Fabregas, who is wanted by Champions League holders Barcelona and big-spending Real Madrid.

Now Arsenal keeper Almunia has added to the criticism by saying that Wenger cannot expect his young side to punch above their weight in next season's title race unless they are joined by experienced additions. "It's great to have a young team but youth doesn't give you ti-tles,said the Spanish shot-stopper. "To go a step further players need to demand more of themselves, be more professional, braver in big games.

"We need the manager to work harder to get what we need, the club to make an extra effort to make us more competitive. We need more than youth."

So far this summer Wenger's "work" has consisted of handing out new deals to Robin van Persie, Kieran Gibbs, Aaron Ramsey and Lukasz Fabianski.

But Gunners fans are more concerned at not yet seeing the seasoned holding midfielder they believe the Arsenal side is crying out for - despite Wenger promising at the end of last term that his priority would be to recruit players with miles on the clock.

One target, Fiorentina's rising star Felipe Melo, has a £21.5million release clause in his contract.

While Italian giants Juventus remain interested Wenger is unlikely to want to meet that valuation for the 26-year-old, who starred for Brazil in the recent Confederations Cup competition.

Wenger is also out of the running for Udinese's Swiss star Gokhan Inler as his Italian club want upwards of £12m.

Instead the Arsenal boss is likely to step up his attempts to land the St Etienne midfielder Blaise Matuidi in a £2.5m deal.

Meanwhile Almunia has thanked former Gunners rival Jens Lehmann for the back-biting and sniping that has made him a more resilient performer.

Speaking exclusively to Champions magazine, Almunia claimed that from the moment the German lost his place in goal he tried to make the Spaniard's life difficult.

Lehmann is believed to have blanked Almunia and would remark on what he believed was the new No.1's apparent lack of quality. But Almunia maintains they are now friends. He said: "I want to thank Lehmann for pushing me this far. We have a good relationship now.

"He was in the changing room after the United game and before that we had a long chat during a meal with the rest of the squad. It started with holidays and the weather and became much deeper.

"We have normalised our relationship. When there is no competition, the character melts a bit. To be honest, when you are younger and have a bad time you don't realise that treatment from your rival can benefit you - you only suffer.

"I have decided that players need not only sporting but psychological pressure if they are to become better."

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