Again, I have a hard time believing that when you look at the money spent. There’s still a massive gulf between Arsenal and anything that is outside of the top6 in England. Spending close to 100m twice in 3 years isn’t nothing, but you can definitely make an argument if it’s needed or money wise spent as you say.
Xhaka and Mustafi. Neither of them have been excellent this season though, but I have hope that both of them become good enough players to become part of something bigger. IMHO they both fit the profile of players that can play key roles if the way we play is suited to their strengths.
The problem here is that as you say Wenger took ages to find exactly those two and in the meantime persisted with either not good enough players, injury prone players or straight up bought back-up that is no longer needed a season later, but not that we’re not spending big money, which was my initial point.
They were adequate signings for positions that should have been sorted out a few seasons ago.
10m for a GK and 30m for a decent DM are not exactly over the top for positions that had been neglected for so long.
They are normal signings for a top European club, and Cech was the only signing in that transfer window, which was a disgrace.
Mustafi was a good signing and was a lot of money but it is the going rate for a decent CB.
That’s fair enough, although apart from two transfer windows our spending has been totally inadequate. and in between those two windows we spent almost nothing, which, considering how desperate we were, cost us the chance to win the PL.
What mid table team spends £42m, £35m x2 and £30m on players? Or spends £17m on someone who barely makes the match day squad? Or has one of the highest wage bills in the world?
Don’t agree with you on that one unfortunately mate.
What mid table team spends £42m, £35m x2 and £30m on players? Or spends £17m on someone who barely makes the match day squad? Or has one of the highest wage bills in the world?
Don’t agree with you on that one unfortunately mate.
[/quote]Clubs like Everton have spent a lot of money and West Ham were bidding 30-40m for players.
Considering we are one of the most profitable clubs in Europe and given we have a supposed 200m to spend on players, we don’t do nearly as well in the transfer market as clubs a fraction of our size.
That’s true, but when you compare it to other clubs that has also to do with Arsenal not moving players on quickly enough in case one or two transfers don’t really work out. We have very small movement in our squad and so can’t buy players every window without actually getting rid of someone, which we really don’t do enough anymore. Players rather sitting out their contract is a real thing at Arsenal.
Depends what you mean by ‘big’ signings. Cech maybe because of his pedigree. Xhaka and Mustafi are still developing. Xhaka doesnt look anywhere near his pricetag either.
Big signings for me are Ozil and Alexis. Signings that can drastically change the team. I dont take the transfer fees into consideration, only the quality.
Given the shelf life of a top, top player at big clubs could be only 3-4 seasons now that there is so much money floating around, other leagues are strengthening and you have China/Middle East as options, Arsenal should be making an Ozil/Sanchez level signing every summer.
