Arsene Wenger on Jamie Vardy rejection, Shkodran Mustafi deal and Thierry Henry blast

Arsenal failed to sign Leicester star Vardy this summer despite triggering his £20million release clause just before Euro 2016.

But the England international decided to snub Arsenal and sign a new four-year deal worth £100,000-a-week at the King Power Stadium.

And ahead of Arsenal’s trip to Leicester on Saturday (5.30pm), Wenger claimed Vardy never told him why he turned down the move.

“He never gave me a reason why he did not want to come, but look, you have to respect the decisions of people,” Wenger said.

“That’s part of it and I think on every transfer market you have one or two who have decisions to make and you have to respect them.

“Look at the whole market. Very little happens. It’s about the availability of players. Huge amounts can be spent on average players.

“I don’t think he has something special against us, I don’t see why he would.”

Wenger was dealt another blow when Leicester confirmed yesterday Riyad Mahrez - another Arsenal target - had signed a new four-year deal too.

"I don't want to speak individually about players," Wenger said when asked interest in the PFA Player of the Year.

"He has been outstanding if you look at his numbers. He was top three in terms of goals and assists. He had the best combination in the league."

And Wenger dodged another question when asked about Arsenal’s interest in £30m-rated Valencia defender Shkodran Mustafi.

“I believe it is better I don’t speak about any individual player,” the Frenchman said.

“We are working very hard. You are absolutely convinced that I don’t want to spend the money, but I would like to reassure you that we are ready to spend the money we have. As always, not the money we haven’t got [because] it is not my money.”

Wenger went on to criticise the state of the transfer market, suggesting Premier League clubs are paying over the odds for signings.

“You could say that today in Europe you have two markets,” the 66-year-old added. “One for the English clubs and one for the rest of Europe.

“The danger of the English situation at the moment is that the English clubs can suffocate themselves in the long term. Why? Because they buy players at a very high price.

“That means there are very high wages linked with it and if they are wrong, they will have these players with high wages who cannot move anywhere else.

“You start the first period now of English clubs having to pay massive wages. Even when the players go out, they have to pay their wages. In the long term, that will mean that the financial advantage the English clubs have will drop because they will be on their wage list.

“They pay for 10 or 12 players who have gone somewhere else because the clubs they go to cannot pay their wages.”

Wenger’s transfer policy has been publicly criticised by many former players, including Arsenal’s record goalscorer Thierry Henry.

Wenger blocked Henry taking a coaching role at Arsenal this summer because he refused to give up his Sky Sports pundit gig - in which he would be expected to give comment on the club good or bad.

Earlier this week Henry said he did not think the best players in the world want to come to the Emirates anymore, inviting a spiky reply from his old boss.

"I don’t feel that no,” Wenger said. “I think there are players who want to join us. Even the older players who left, 99.5 per cent have asked to come back. He was one of them, so I don’t think it’s a problem now."