it's Wengers philosophy, apparently, to pay all first team squad members the same (more or less) which then prevents them from offering the likes of Fabregas and RvP more in an attempt to dampen their desire to leave.
if Bale was there now, with this Real interest - there'd be a much higher chance of him leaving than there is here because we're more willing to reward our star players with higher wages.
I don't actually think that it is really wenger's philosophy to pay all first team members more or less the same amount.
What is probably going on is that players, young or old are not super attracted by the prospect of joining Arsenal (as opposed to sides that challenge for titles on a regular basis).
In addition, arsenal, like us, seem to have a wage cap. This combination makes it impossible to sign established pros. Therefore, wenger "overpays" (in wages) to bring in younger talent, and
beat off competition from rival clubs for their signature.
Thats why they have players like Bendtner, Djourou, Denilson on relatively large wages.
And fwiw, ive seen on many sources that Djourous wage is more in the 40k/w region. And even considering that he is on closer to 60k, its no way near as preposterous as some people make out.
At one stage he was an up and coming young centreback for a top 4 side with many games under his belt. For a centre back who is a squad member of a "top 4 side" in the premier league, his reported wages are relatively normal. For example, Nastasic, Johnny Exans and Gallas are earning in excess of 50k/w. At other clubs, Richard Dunne, Heitinga, John O'shea, Wes Brown, Onouaha, Bramble, Yanga-Mbiwa, Carlos Cuellar, Coates etc etc etc are all on 40k/w+.
The reality is, Djourou probably was "overpaid". But not by a ridiculous amount. His reported wages are just the going rate for a squad member of a premier league side.