Now quite often I don’t take much notice of such articles, but I must admit that this summer I too have been struck by what seem to me to be some rather strange and indeed overpriced transfers.   So when the article starts, “Transfer spending has hit new heights this summer. With a record four deals already conducted over the magical €100 million mark, clubs are splashing out huge fees more than ever before,” then I keep on reading.  Because this really is the land of insanity football.

Now obviously you can go and look up the list of mad transfers they have highlighted using the link above, but the reason I mention this here is because not one of these transfers involved Arsenal although the majority involved an English club.   And that is odd because in the past every journalist would have put Arsenal right up the top of any knocking copy.   

Does this mean things have changed; indeed have Arsenal simply got better at avoiding bad transfers?

I thought I would give you a run down of the transfers said to awful and which involved an English PL club….  ETV normally stands for estimated transfer value.

The list is below and is taken directly from the website noted above, omitting those players that have not involved a Premier League club.  Which means of course this list is hardly “Untold”, but I am reproducing it here because it does seem to me to reveal in very clear terms the insanity that has gripped the Premier League that we have been discussing of late.

Just a few years back Arsenal were, as you will recall, sinking fast under the man who is now with Aston Villa who are themselves now sinking, if not fast, then still sinking.   And the return of Arteta to Arsenal was not universally applauded.   But what Arteta has done is that he has avoided going into what we might describe as the Tottenham style market, (ie buying players just because they are expensive).

Instead Arsenal have been buying players who can fit into a mould that Arteta has clearly thought through and evolved, starting with the players he wanted to keep, and then adding to that basic outline, always working to buy in the right man to fit the whole XI.

Now I would always admit that I am not in any way an expert on issues of transfers or player suitability, but I do think we should all applaud Arteta not just for winning the league last season but also for constantly evolving and developing a new team.  We are not just getting an Arsenal team that could win the league last season, and maybe will again next season, but a team that will be ready and usd to playing together for 2028/29 and onwards.   And that is not something we often see.  Basically there is a team there, and new players will slot into that team, rather than having Arsenal building a completely new XI.

Some players may be helpful to the club for one year, some two, some won’t be fully ready for three years – but what we are seeing is a real planning for the long-term as well as the short-term.

Now this is what most clubs can’t do – fans and directors demand success at once – just look at the way Tottenham and other clubs can bring in a new manager and then sack him within the same season.  Because of the patience in the board room, and I would also claim, in the stands, Arteta was able to plot and plan his transfer arrangements without feeling he had to win something THIS season.   

How many other clubs would have allowed their manager to spend and sell as Arteta did, without winning anything beyond that first FA Cup until he created last season’s team?  Not many I suggest.

Thus I do give Arteta full praise for what he achieved last season, and I love the way that so many other clubs (some based not very far from Arsenal station) try to match this by going in and buying whatever players are available, and then sack their managers once or twice in each season because they have not achieved instant success.

For them, long may it last.   For Arsenal – our approach is the way forward…   Here’s the list of crazy priced players from the media…

Savio: Manchester City to Tottenham Hots

• Transfer fee: €87.7m
• ETV: €44.9m
• Overspend: €42.8m

Marco Palestra: Atalanta to Chelsea

• Transfer fee: €57m
• ETV: €12.4m
• Overspend: €44.6m

Sandro Tonali: Newcastle United to Tottenham Hots

• Transfer fee: €108m
• ETV: €59.9m
• Overspend: €49.1m

Ayyoub Bouaddi: Lille to Manchester City

• Transfer fee: €95m
• ETV: €43.5m
• Overspend: €51.5m

Morgan Rogers: Aston Villa to Chelsea

• Transfer fee: €137.3m
• ETV: €73.4m
• Overspend: €63.9m

Elliot Anderson: Nottingham Forest to Manchester City

• Transfer fee: €135m
• ETV: €69.4m
• Overspend: €70.3m

Mateus Fernandes: West Ham United to Tottenham Hots

• Transfer fee: €94.3m
• ETV: €28.7m
• Overspend: €65.6m

They might not all turn out to be overpriced, but even if half of them are, that in itself gives us an advantage in financial terms for any purchases wanted in January.