A lot has already been made of Mikel Arteta’s spending at Arsenal.
“Spent €700m in 5-years and only won the FA Cup” is the rubbish being spouted by lazy journalists, opposing fans, clickbait news outlets and those Arsenal fans that never wanted him to be our manager and will never change their tune on criticism.
Yes, Arteta has spent a small fortune on the squad since joining in 2019 – so the 2020 January transfer window onwards. Arsenal have spent around £590m in this time (figures will fluctuate depending on your source).
But this needs to be put into perspective with what other sides have spent in this period:
So yes, critics are correct in saying that Arteta has spent £590m since 2019, but that is still only the 5th highest spend on transfer of all of the top 6.
When Arteta took over we were sitting 10th in the table. He has spent £590m taking us from 10th to 2nd. Meanwhile:
Chelsea – £1.25bn spent to go from 4th to 6th
Man U – £640m to go from 6th to 8th
Man City – £630m to go from 3rd to 1st
Tottenham – £600m to go from 5th to 5th
Arsenal – £590m to go from 10th to 2nd
Liverpool – £425m to go from 1st to 3rd
Only Manchester City and Arsenal are higher in the league now in comparison to where every club was in December 2019, when Arteta took over. And none of the “Big 6” has climbed more places.
Man City have spent £630m to go from 3rd to 1st in the league. But that £630m was on top of already heavy investment in the squad.
In 2019/20, Rodri, Kevin de Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Ederson starting more games than any other City player. The likes of Kyle Walker, Phil Foden and John Stones were also at the club. That is nearly £300m worth of talent, which they then spent a further £630m adding to creating a squad that cost them nearly £1bn to take them from 3rd to 1st.
And it is the same at Liverpool.
Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Allisson, Trent-Alexander Arnold and Andrew Robertson were all key that season as Liverpool won the league. That is the worlds most expensive centre back and goal keeper.
Those 5 players cost Liverpool close to £200m.
Of the players that started 10 or more league games in 2019/20 for The Arsenal, only Bukayo Saka remains.
The likes of Ozil, Auba, Laca, Pepe, Mustafi, Kolasinac, Bellerin and others were all dumped gone without raising a penny for us. It was not Arteta’s fault that we had a huge amount of ageing, underperforming players on huge wages that no one else wanted to spend money on. Which brings me to my next point.
So Liverpool spent £425m, adding to £200m worth of world class players, Man City spent £630m, adding to £300m of existing stars. Arteta has spent £590m, adding to £0m of existing players. And this is the problem when you pick an arbitrary date to make point; it discounts the previous heavy investment that already exists.
So instead of looking at total spent since 2019, why do we not look at total spent on each squad?
Chelsea – £888m
Man City – £802m
Man U – £740m
Arsenal – £582m
Liverpool – £575m
Tottenham – £55m
Note: Previous figures were for total spend, the above is for existing squad costs which excludes players who have been signed during that period and since been sold on.
“But what about net spend” you ask…
Net spend means nothing. It is lazy journalism produced by those who are unable to comprehend anything more complicated. This is because there are more factors to take into account when a player departs, such as the saving made in wages.
It has quickly been forgotten about that by shedding a lot of senior players, Edu and Arteta reduced Arsenal’s wage bill by nearly £100m. So whilst our “net transfer spend” might be comparable (and even higher), than our wages, the total outgoing by the time you factor in what each club is paying in wages leaves us a long way behind.
The above infographic is taken from clubs ACTUAL ACCOUNTS, and not guesstimate from people that basically use Football Manager for their source. Of course, it is up to their 2023 accounts, which takes us to the end of the last season. This years accounts will not be out until back end of this year to spring next.
So yes, whilst Manchester City and Liverpool might have a lower “net spend” than Arsenal since 2019, both clubs have spent £500m+ more on wages during that period. Their increased wage expenditure vastly oustripes the difference between players signed against players sold.
Arteta has rebuilt a squad, spending just £590m to take us from 10th to 2nd whilst cutting our wage bill dramatically. This has put the club in its best position since 2006 – both on and off the pitch.
We are finished for the second time in 2 years whilst maintaining the 5th highest wage bill during that period (my estimation). It is a huge overachievement.
What we now need to do is build on it.
A second year of Champions League football, and the revenue that brings in, alongside increasing commercial deals (companies that wanted nothing to do with us in 2019 are now lining up outside Highbury House) will allow us to continually invest and improve.
Arteta has shown that there are some squad players he does not trust (Nelson, Smith Rowe, and others). They will be let go and we will spend big (again), on 3 or 4 new players he does trust.
Whilst that expenditure will be big, in an attempt to take us from 2nd to 1st, it will be a lot less than what Man City have spent taking them from 2nd to 1st since 2020.
New contracts are being given out to secure the future of players that were on 5th placed wages and have proven themselves to be title contending stars. And we will keep moving forward as a club.
But even with spending more, recruiting better players, and Arteta evolving as he gains experience, it will still not be a failure to finish 2nd behind City.
City are state owned with near limitless resources. For every pound we can spend, they can spend 100. They already have some of the best players in the world, they have the best manager in the world, and will also spend big this summer (lets remember they outspent us last year, again).
The future is bright for Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal. But that future also contains Manchester City. And they will not be easy to overtake.
Keenos
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 