As the Premier League’s richest clubs contemplate their last lavish moves before the closure of the transfer window, with gargantuan fees for Kevin De Bruyne and Paul Pogba dominating the headlines, Arsène Wenger has lamented the failure of the FFP experiment. Financial fair play was introduced in 2009 by Uefa as an attempt to curb excessive spending and to encourage clubs to pay out relative to what they earn, but Wenger suggests the regulations are more or less meaningless.

“It has gone,” he said. “I have seen the signs coming from Uefa for a while. I thought it would happen but now it is not possible. What’s happened is the clubs threatened to go to civil court – not only through sport. That brought a lot of insecurity in the decision-making of Uefa so they started to soften the rules a little bit.”

Although the most high-profile cases punished Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, who were fined, with squad size restrictions and spending limits also imposed in February 2014, the number of legal challenges by clubs in effect saw off the FFP concept. Uefa has backtracked to the point that it is no longer viable.

For a number of years, Arsenal’s business plan was based on their hopes that FFP would level the financial playing field. That is no longer a realistic aspiration. Where does that leave Arsenal? “Exactly the same,” Wenger said. “We continue to run our business with the resources we create. They [other clubs] can put a hundred or two hundred on top. It is always like that. Maybe it will change one day.”

The only way that will change is if Arsenal’s ownership model changes. Stan Kroenke, the billionaire majority shareholder, has never shown any desire to fund the club personally and he is a believer in a self-sustaining business model.

That said, Wenger stressed that the problems that have crushed FFP are not the reason for Arsenal’s relative inactivity in this transfer window, with Petr Cech the only major arrival. There is a healthy pot of money – albeit not as deep as, say, Manchester City’s. “I’ve said to you all the time it is not a shortage of money,” Wenger said. “At the moment it is a handicap to us because we have the resources, just shortage of players.”

A year ago Arsenal were busier in the summer window, spending in excess of £75m to recruit Alexis Sánchez, David Ospina, Mathieu Debuchy, Danny Welbeck and Calum Chambers. Sánchez has been the standout success story. Ospina made some solid performances last season but has been superseded by Cech. Welbeck and Debuchy were unlucky with injuries. The jury remains out on Chambers, who arrived as a young prospect and showed strong potential initially. But last Monday he endured a very difficult and nervy game against Liverpool.

Wenger has spoken to the 20-year-old, retains great faith in him and has no hesitation in picking him against Newcastle at St James’s Park on Saturday if Arsenal’s first-choice defensive pair of Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny are not fit. “He showed character,” Wenger said. “The positive of the night, though he did not have the best performance in the first half, was the way he recovered. He showed his mental strength. He has lost a bit of confidence compared to last year. Maybe not playing too much – the Under-21 tournament did not help him as he did not play at all.

“I have spoken to him and he’s a strong footballer, a dedicated player who is ready to work day and night. He has the talent to be a good player.”

Although naturally frustrated by the frailties Arsenal have shown so far, especially after how much he pressed the case for a strong start, Wenger feels his team are closer to the level required. “Maybe it’s normal that after two or three games you are not completely at 100%. We are there now. Three or four games, that’s what you need.”