- Second club banned from transfer deals
- Arsenal face a psychological battle at the start of the season
By Tony Attwood
In the list below we can see the players who have been transferred to selected Premier League clubs this summer, It does not include players whose transfers are noted in the media as being “all but done” quite simply because history tells us that the all-but-dones quite often are never done, and the “all-but-done” statement is usually a bit of PR from a club trying to placate fans or journos.
Players who have moved on only include those who have left for a fee, and not those who have left on a free or as a loan has ended.
| Club | Players in | Cost | Players out | Income |
| Arsenal | Arrizabalaga | £5m | Tavares, Marquinhos + 6 others | £9m |
| Aston Villa | Razmond, Ozcan | Undisclosed | Keysler Haden +5 | £3.5m |
| Chelsea | 5 fee paid and and two loan ended | £149.1m | Arrizabalaga + 4 | £5m |
| Liverpool | Wirtz,, Kerkez, Frimpong, Pesci Mamardashvili +1 | £212m | Quansah, Kelleher, Alexander-Arnold, Phillips + 2 | £52.5m |
| Manc City | Reijnders, Aït-Nouri, Cherki +1 | £61.5m | Couto, Wroght, +4 | £27.6m |
| Manchester Utd | Cunah + 2 | £62.5m | Lindelöf, Evans, Erikson | £0 |
| Newcastle | Cordero | 0 | Kelly + 1 | £20m |
| Totteham Ho | Tel, Danso, Vuskovic | £63m | Højbjerg +6 | £17m |
As we can see from this, clubs this summer are moving at very different speeds and seem to be playing very different games. But when it comes to adding all these together so for the number of players moving in or out for each club is not quite so varied as we might first assume. Newcastle and to a lesser degree Manchester U) are the odd ones out, the rest of the clubs are in the same sort of area.
- Arsenal: one in, eight out – total 9 players
- Aston Villa: two in seven out – total 9 players
- Chelsea seven in, five out – total 12 players
- Liverpool six in, seven out – total 13 players
- Manchester City, four in, six out – total 10 players
- Manchester United three in, three out – total 6 players
- Newcastle 1 in, two out, – total 3 players
- Tottenham three in, seven out – total 10 players.
To try and make a bit more sense out of what is happening we might compare this with what happened at Arsenal last summer. In fact Arsenal signed seven players in all last summer
- Riccardo Calafiori signed for £42m. played 16 games, sub appearances 13
- Merino fpr £27.4m, played 29 games, sub appearances 15, scored nine goals
- Raya for £27m, played 55 games
- Sterling on loan, played 13 games, 15 sub appearances, scored 1 goal
- Neto on loans played 1 game
- Setford played 1 game
- Nygard did not play.
Of course, the big complaint that came through the season was that as the injuries mounted up so the number of goals declined and Arsenal ended up as only the third highest scoring team in the league rather than the second highest scoring team in the league as they had been in the previous two seasons. This drop from second to third highest scoring then led to the demands for the club to buy a new centre forward.
Indeed, what actually happened can be seen through the players who scored 10+ goals in recent seasons
2024/25: Havertz 15 goals in 30 games (50%), Saka 12 in 30 games (40%), Martinelli 10 in 40 games (25%) and Trossard 10 in 37 games (27%)
2023/24: Saka 20 goals in 46 games (43%), Trossard 17 goals in 25 games (69%), Havertz 14 goals in 43 games (31%), Odegaard 11 goals in 45 games (24%), Martinelli 8 goals in 31 games (26%)
If we look at this data we can see that Havertz scoring rate went up, Saka’s and Martinelli’s were pretty much the same, but Trossard’s rate went down.
These figures don’t explain everything but the fact that players’ scoring rates generally stayed pretty much the same in terms of goals per games, shows us yet again, that the explanation for Arsenal’s decline in league goals from 91 (two seasons ago) to 69 (last season) was not because players lost their ability to score but, as we have suggested all along, because they were not playing so many games because of the multiple injuries.
And as we have also suggested (but here we are on less solid statistical ground), the reason for the injuries was that clubs playing Arsenal (particularly those further down the league) were increasingly using illegal tactics as a way of breaking up Arsenal’s forward movements.
All these figures suggest that Arsenal players are going to continue to be injured, and we need more back-up players who can score goals, so they can take over when our first-choice players are cut to pieces in front of the eyes of referees who seem to be reluctant to take much notice.
As a final footnote, while writing this piece the news has come in that Thomas Partey has been charged with multiple rapes. Obviously we don’t comment on legal situations of this nature, but I mention it since I happened to be writing the above piece as the news came in.
i think this might be bad pr for the club with partey charged.
Innocent until found guilty .
But we can do without a trial hanging over our heads , so best that he’s gone.
I’ve already heard people saying how shit Arsenal are as they must have known but carried on playing him. Utterly ridiculous.
Yes they probably knew there were allegations around but should the club have stopped him playing because of unproven allegations? It’s hardly the same as a coach working with children where safeguarding issues have arisen. Partey had not even been charged with anything whilst at the club and for him to continue playing posed no possible risk to others.
The media and other fans will, no doubt use it as a stick with which to beat the club, but hey, they’d find another stick if this one wasn’t around.
NB If he is found guilty by a court of law he deserves everything he gets.
On Thomas Partey
It’s a bit unfortunate that I’m writing here, because Arsebp9g does not let me give them a piece of my mind for free. They posted an absolutely ridiculous blog titled
A sad day for Tomiyasu : A dark day for Arsenal Football Club
in which hey went on and on about how Thomas should have been suspended once the investigation began and how opposition supporters would sing derogatory songs and boo Thomas, something that apparently has been happening for a couple of years now. I encourage you all to read that post for context on my comments here.
Arseblog need to understand something vitally important. Innocence until guilt is proved. Stopping someone’s life just because of accusations leveled against him is the height of irresponsibility. Thomas has a right to continue his life until the legal system determines otherwise. The behavior of opposing fans and all of that should be frowned upon but otherwise ignored. But if Arsenal have determined that the evidence they are privy to does not hold water, they can and should continue with the player at usual.
I would invite the idiot that posted on Arseblog to consider if it was his brother that was accused similarly. Would he expect his brother to be suspended or fired from work and otherwise ostracized? What if, after a trial, his brother was found not guilty? What would happen?
It was not so long ago that that Man City left back was similarly accused. He was immediately suspended and his career effectively ended. His life was dragged in the mud for years, only for him to be later found not guilty. But because his club suspended him he had to leave and try to rebuild his life elsewhere. Where is the fairness in that? Anyone found guilty will be punished. We should not be punishing them before the guilt is fully determined.
I know of three different men in the UK that were jailed for similar crimes. Two of them were later released after the women were found to have lied. The third is currently having his conviction reviewed. And to my admittedly limited knowledge, the women in question receive no punishment for lying. None at all. Their identities tend to be protected even. If we can go to such lengths to protect the women, we can at least wait until the courts rule before condemning the men.
Yes the notion of innocent until proven guilty is sadly one of the many freedoms that some people seem to think is not worth supporting. But of course has long been a view of the Telegraph.