€844m on transfers and counting - Are Arsenal getting value for money under Arteta?

FA Cup shock 

Arsenal’s hopes of silverware took another dent this weekend, when Southampton surprised the Premier League leaders with a 2-1 win in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. Following a defeat to Manchester City in the League Cup final one week earlier, Arsenal not only lost back-to-back games for the first time this season, but Mikel Arteta’s side were also eliminated from two of the four tournaments they were hoping to win.

"In the season you have to go through periods. Some of them are difficult for whatever reason,” said the Spanish tactician after Saturday’s defeat. “Now we have two very disappointing results and we have to pick ourselves up. Now we have to show what we are made of and the way to do that is on the pitch and not here."

The Gunners should be able to bounce back in the Champions League this week, where they’re strong favourites to overcome Portuguese giants Sporting over two legs in the quarter-finals of the competition. However, with bigger foes to face later in the competition and an away trip to Man City in the Premier League later this month, there are creeping concerns that Arteta’s side may ultimately finish the season trophyless for a sixth successive season.

Indeed, while Arsenal’s squad is only the fifth most expensively assembled in terms of transfer fees, the club’s net spend on new players during Arteta’s reign has been unprecedented. Since taking over in late 2019, the North London club’s net spend on new players stands at no less than €843.5 million - which ranks third among all English clubs in that period of time. As we can see in the table below, only Manchester United (€918.7m) and Chelsea (€948.5m) have spent more in the transfer window than Arsenal.

However, as we can also see from the table, while Arsenal outrank most of the top 10 biggest spenders in English football in terms of money spent on transfer fees, they notably lag behind their rivals in terms of silverware. After spending close to €1 billion on players since January 2020, Arteta has just one trophy (the 2019/20 FA Cup) to show for his troubles. That puts Arsenal behind both Chelsea and Man Utd, but also considerably behind Liverpool and Man City, who have won five and nine major trophies respectively in that time period.

It’s that stat, more so than any other, that looms over Arteta and his squad this season. While few would fault Arsenal for their spending spree in comparison to their domestic rivals, there’s certainly a growing sense that the North London club are getting fewer returns for their investments than the likes of Liverpool, Man City or even Man Utd and Chelsea.

"It's always been like this from the beginning of the season when the expectations on your team are so high,” said Arteta after the defeat to Southampton, when asked about criticism of his team. “That's what you have to expect and live with in a natural way. Nobody is going to set the demands and standards higher than us that's for sure."

Arteta and his staff may set the highest of standards and demands for their squad. But unless they can ultimately get over the line with success in the Premier League or Champions League this season, some may begin to question whether the Spaniard is doing a good enough job to guide Arsenal towards some much-needed silverware.