- When Arsenal players are returning, and who they will be playing
- What Arsenal need to do to win the title
By Tony Attwood and a calculator
The way in which clubs act during any transfer window is generally very varied, some managing to get their transfer business done quickly, some always heading for the last moment.
Thus far we can see that the top clubs have been offloading players not wanted (or at least not wanted for the season coming) quickly, while obviously still in negotiations for the players they would dearly like to have.
In this regard, as now in so many regards, Manchester City of course have a major advantage as they are able to deal with other clubs in the City group and hence their deal for Savinho from Troyes at what looks like a ludicrously low fee, is done and dusted. Savinho was playing last season on loan for Girona (a City Group club) having been registered by Troyes (a City Group club) and is now sold for what looks likely to be way below his actual value to Manchester City (a City Group club).
There is nothing wrong in all this in terms of the rules, but I would argue the rules haven’t yet caught up with the way the City Group works. The Group has found the loophole and is exploiting it by taking on promising youngsters and finding teams within their group that they can play for, so that Man City can see what the players are like in real league competitive situations, rather than in under 21 games..
The number of players coming in and leaving includes loan players this summer
| Club | Lge pos 2024 | Cost (& No ) of new players | Income & No of outgoing players | Profit or loss |
| Arsenal | 2 | £27m (2) | £4m (8) | £23m loss |
| Aston V | 4 | £103m (7) | £74.8m (8) | £28.2m loss |
| Chelsea | 6 | £65.9m (6) | £91.5m (8) | £25.6m profit |
| Liverpool | 3 | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 |
| Man C | 1 | £30.8m (1) | £47,7m (5) | £16.9m profit |
| Newcastle U | 7 | £28m (3) | £68m (6) | £40m profit |
| Man U | 8 | £88.7m (3) | £36.82m (8) | £51m loss |
| Tottenham Ho | 5 | £33.5m (3) | £20.6m (7) | £12.9 mloss |
The most new players have been acquired by Aston Villa (seven) and Chelsea (six) and both numbers are understandable – Villa having made the top four are urgently wanting to keep that position and have enough players to see through an extended Champions League campaign. Chelsea are desperate to pull their way out of the doldrums and finishing sixth was seen as progress for them.
Players in and out totals include loans.
| Club | Lge pos 2024 | Profit or loss summer 2023 | Players in | Players out |
| Arsenal | 2 | £124.7m loss | 5 | 26 |
| Aston V | 4 | £43.4m loss | 5 | 17 |
| Chelsea | 6 | £204.7m loss | 17 | 41 |
| Liverpool | 3 | £93.4m loss | 4 | 23 |
| Man C | 1 | £75.5m loss | 4 | 26 |
| Man U | 8 | £124.5m loss | 7 | 23 |
| Newcastle U | 7 | £88.6m loss | 5 | 14 |
| Tottenham Ho | 5 | £94.8m loss | 9 | 14 |
So let’s see if any of this transfer activity a year ago benefitted anyone much. The biggest expenditure (loss) on players was that of Manchester United and Arsenal. The biggest number of players in and the biggest number of players out was in each case Chelsea. In both transfers in and transfers out no other club was near Chelsea.
In terms of players coming in Tottenham were second just around half the number of players coming in and with players leaving . Arsenal and Manchester City’s numbers are interestingly close.
What the figures for last summer show is that buying and selling of players in the summer can help clubs to the top part of the league as Arsenal and Manchester City show. But such actions need to be kept to a reasonable level, for endless buying and selling, as Chelsea have shown, does not lead automatically to success.
The City Group setup is clearly working however with their ability to move around players with impunity within the group, and then pick up the best ones for Manchester City with no other club having a chance to buy the player. This is not to say that the amount of money paid by the club is unreasonably low, but rather there simply isn’t and chance of the player being sold outside the City Group if another club in the group wants him – so no bidding war takes place, which helps keep the price down.
That factor is generally ignored by the media as the focus is obviously mostly on the amount of money spent, but it is one that is certain to become more and more important within the continuing dominance of Manchester City. It is indeed an interesting point that the media in general has not picked up on, although it is certainly something that is causing concern within the league itself.
