Saturday 30 July 2011

Transfer spend of Arsenal and other clubs since 1992

The post I am about to write is based on the image above which I found here. Any praise or questions about the figures should be directed to them as I am merely analysing and talking about the stats they have created, enjoy!

This post as shown by the title is about the transfer spend and profit/loss of Arsenal and other premier league clubs since the premier league began in 1992 up until 2010. For any Arsenal fan the first thing that strikes you here is how low down we actually here, 13th! Even the likes of Stoke (scum) and Wolves are above us and at first glance it may concern you but actually, it speaks a great deal about the way our club is run. The table is done in order of profit/loss from transfers in case you hadn't noticed

Take a look at the top of the table. Inevitably you find the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City and that other club from North London. All of these have splashed out extortionate amounts of bringing players in to the club (in some cases over double the amount that we have) but the success of the them clubs compared to us shows how brilliantly this club has been run for the last 18 years. Whilst both losing over £400,000,000 more than us, City and Chelsea haven't ultimately been massively more successful than us. In this period Manchester City have won an FA cup although I'll accept the money has made them a major threat. Chelsea have won the same amount of premier league titles as us in the period that they have spent over double us. Facts like this make you really appreciate Arsenal as a football club. The words don't mean much to me and they won't mean much to a lot of Arsenal fans but they are very important. We are very financially sustainable.

Now even writing this post I can imagine the feedback I'll get. 'This proves we never spend, we won't win anything', 'We won't make the champions league next year if we don't act like City' and 'Squillaci can't defend'. Okay that last one is irrelevant but the only true one there. I know the figures in the image will frustrate many because if we spent a little more and worried less about being financially secure you could argue we would be a match for the likes of Barcelona right now.  The fact we have a net spend lower than clubs finishing well below us in the league may show an unwillingness to spend for some but for me it merely shows what an excellent manager Arsene Wenger is. He has managed his resources in a manner close to perfect. We've competed at the top level for 20 years and ensured we won't wind up huge levels of debt like Liverpool and United. We obviously aren't unwilling to spend either. If you look at the table based on money spent alone we would be around 5th. I suppose that reflects the power of money in football

The one figure that does amaze me is the last one. Per season our transfer dealings show we lose roughly 1.75 million a year. For a club that has constantly made the necessary investments to maintain a top four position, the figure is brilliant. Just think. We have been able to recruit world class players like Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieria for an ultimate cost per season of nearly £2million. If that isn't brilliant work by a club then I don't know what is

Quickly compare the above table to the premier league table last year. If, as some people say, massive losses in transfer spending is a price to pay for success then Arsenal would be fighting with the likes of Stoke for a top half finish every year but this isn't the case. We've spent wisely and still compete every year. You may argue we haven't won a trophy for however long but what is the ultimate point if we are going to wind up with huge losses. I am not at all saying we shouldn't spend more. I think we should. All I'm saying is that massive spending like Manchester City doesn't guarantee what every fan ultimately wants, the long term success of their club which ensures they will always be around.

The ultimate point of this post was to show what a fantastic time this has been for the club the last 20 years. Yes we are on a trophy drought but put it in perspective. We could splash the cash extensively to win a trophy but once we have done so we are on to the next season when the spending will catch up with us. If Manchester City don't win something big within the next two seasons players will want to leave and the money would've been wasted. There's more pressure on clubs like them than us. In the last 20 years selling players has earned us £252,274,000 which shows the true value of the club. Our success with the finance spent is something other clubs dream of. Trophies are a bonus based on the dealings of the clubs and if we can have the success we have had based on the little money lost so far just imagine what we can achieve if we start to spend just a little more like Wenger has promised

Have faith gooners, Arsene Knows
Joe (@Tilley_96)

2 comments:

Clinton said...

Great article, I for one am glad we don't spend like some of these other clubs, and when we do start bringing home the silverware, and we will it'll be an even greater achievment.

Tilley_96 said...

Thanks Clinton and I couldn't agree more. Trophies will come and I feel much sooner rather than later. The way the club is run is often overlooked.