• 'Football is about winning and balancing the budget' • Arsenal manager says financial rules should apply to all clubs

Arsène Wenger made a thinly veiled reference yesterday to Chelsea's Carlo Ancelotti, who earlier this week had sarcastically called the Arsenal manager a "magician" when he predicted Chelsea would fall away in the new year and the Italian would be sacked.

Wenger said Christmas was a "time for magicians" in reference to Chelsea's debt having been written off by Roman Abramovich – some £340m since the Russian oligarch took over at Stamford Bridge.

"Professional football is about winning and balancing the budget," said Wenger. "That's the basic rule, one I fought for. All the rest is half-cheating. I don't know what happened [at Portsmouth] but for every club it has to be the same: for Chelsea, for everybody. I've always pleaded for financial fair play."