City boss Roberto Mancini has spent over £70million this summer on bringing the likes of David Silva, Aleksandar Kolarov, Yaya Toure and Jerome Boateng to Eastlands. The Italian's spending spree would almost certainly pass the £100million mark if he is successful in his pursuit of Inter Milan striker Mario Balotelli and England midfielder James Milner. Gunners boss Arsene Wenger's activity in the transfer market has been mild in comparison, with free transfer Marouane Chamakh and £10m defender Laurent Koscielny being the only arrivals at the Emirates Stadium so far this summer. But Vermaelen has defended his manager's decision to not spend big, claiming that spending vast amounts of money on players does not always guarantee a club success. "You can buy as many players as you can but it doesn't mean you can win titles. I don't think it is the key to success," said the Belgian. "The most important thing is being able to play as a team. Manchester City have bought some really good players but now it's up to them to make themselves into a team." Wenger has looked to invest in youth, rather than spend large amounts of money on transfers during his 14 year tenure at the north London club. Vermaelen points to the likes of youngsters Jack Wilshere and Emmanuel Frimpong, who both impressed in the Emirates Cup over the weekend, as evidence that building with youth is the right way to develop a club. The defender continued: "Building with youth, like Arsenal has, is the right way to do it. "Sometimes you have big talent in your club and the boss does right to give them a chance. "You saw in the Emirates Cup at the weekend that they can do well. Maybe they can do something for us in the first team now." Wenger will face arguably the biggest test of his managerial career when he welcomes Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas back to north London at the club's members' day at the Emirates. Fabregas is expected to line up alongside Wenger for the official team photo, even though the 23-year-old has been the subject of a summer-long transfer saga between the Gunners and La Liga champions Barcelona. Wenger, who pulled out of an appearance at Arsenal charity Centre point yesterday due to "unforeseen circumstances", has repeatedly insisted that his skipper will not be sold to the club where he began his career as a trainee. Vermaelen acknowledges that Fabregas is an important part of the team and would be sorely missed if he returned to Barcelona. "Cesc is important because he is a very good player for us," said the former Ajax man. "I hope he will stay. I hope he will score goals for us. In football you never know but I'm confident that he will stay." Regardless of whether Fabregas stays or not, Vermaelen insists that the club are well-placed to win their first league title since 2004. "I'm confident that we can win it," he said. "It's my ambition and dream to win it and we will do it this year."
