Arteta spending
Piero Hincape will take us to around £300m spent this summer. Unless it transpires that it is a loan with an obligation to buy next season. That will means our spending tops out at £250m.
The “pressure will be on Mikel Arteta” following spending nearly a quarter of a million pounds in one window, and close to £1bn since joining the club. But perspective is also very important.
2025/26 spending:
Liverpool – £293m
Arsenal – £253m
Chelsea – £241m
Man U – £200m
Tottenham – £181m
Man City – £153m
Since 2022, we have the 5th highest spend in the Premier League, spending half of what Chelsea have spent. That rises to 4th highest spend since Arteta first summer.
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The numbers are huge. But everyone is spending huge. And when you consider where we were when Arteta came in, he has done a great job taking us to title contenders whilst continually being outspent by those around him.
Ps: for those that say “Liverpool won the league and spent less”, true. But they already had the likes of Salah, Van Dijk and Allisson in their squad when Arteta came in. What would they have cost if they needed to sign them in 2022?
Squad depth in defence
Throughout the summer, the consistent line at Arsenal was how Arteta wanted to raise the floor of players. About how he wanted more players he could trust which would allow him to rest and rotate players.
In recent years, Gabriel and Saliba have been backed up by Jakub Kiwior and full backs who could play centre back.
We now have the squad depth to rest Gabriel or Saliba, Timber or Calafiori.
And when you consider the injury issues 3 of these have faced, this rotation could be key to keeping everything fresher and out of the red zone.
Tottenham think they have done something
Why do Tottenham think they’ve done something? We basically signed a player they were chasing all summer and who they thought they’d signed
They’ve ended up with a decent player in Xavi Simons, but he is clearly their 3rd choice and someone they would not have looked at had they signed either Morgan Gibbs White or Ebere Eze.
Simons has been touted around Europe all summer by his agent and no one (except for Chelsea) showed any interest.
Tottenham and Simons feels like a transfer of connivence rather than either actually wanting each other.
Keenos