Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis says the club can't compete with their Premier League rivals over transfer fees because they "can't afford to make huge mistakes".
Arsenal have bought three new players this summer - midfielder Granit Xhaka, forward Tasumo Asano and centre-back Rob Holding - but they have been criticised for their lack of transfer activity, specifically in adding attacking options to their forward line.
Gazidis has defended the club's purchasing policy, and says the club will continue to be prudent as they plan for the future.
"We can't afford to outgun competitors that have far more money. We have to be very careful, very selective," he said. "We would not be successful if we simply went out into the transfer market and tried to outgun our competitors.
"We're run in a self-sustaining way, and a way that we believe in, because we believe it gives us certainty for the future and enables us to plan our future with confidence. That means we can't afford to make huge mistakes in the transfer market. We can't afford to outgun competitors that have far more money to splurge on transfer fees than we do. So we have to be very careful, very selective about how we do things."
Source: transfermarketweb.com