Premier League: Arsenal, the king of the market for two seasons with 300 million!

Arsenal haven’t set foot in the Champions League since 2016-17. The course which begins in August will be the sixth with the “gunners” out of high-level continental competition. A drought with which they want to end up “refreshing” with new recruits. “We know where we have to go and we’re not going to stop,” said Mikel Arteta, who is clear on his plan: “We have to take it to the next level. This summer is more important than the previous one.”

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Since December 2019, when the Spanish coach left Pep Guardiola’s technical staff at Manchester City to lead Arsenal, the Londoners’ track record in terms of signings is more than defined with Edu (sporting director) and Vinai Venkatesham (executive director). “We want a team with a young and exciting team and a very, very bright future because, as I said last summer, the idea is to have a young team,” said the former Brazilian player . And for that, Stan Kroenke, owner of the club, has “scratched” his pocket for the past two years.

We managed to balance the workforce. Financially, we are in a much more stable position. Now it’s time to increase the quality

Mikel Arteta, Arsenal manager

“We have managed to balance the team. Financially we are in a much more stable position. Now is the time to raise the quality,” warned Arteta. In 2021-22, the ‘gunners’, regained their economic muscle, were those who spent the most on transfers (167.5 million euros) taking Ben White (58.5, Brighton), Odegaard (35, Real Madrid), Ramsdale (28, Sheffield United), Tomiyasu (18.5, Bologna), Lokonga (17.5, Anderlecht), Tavares (8, Benfica) and Trusty (2, Colorado). Newcastle (146.5), Manchester United (140), City (134.5), Aston Villa (129.82)… they were behind. A trend that is repeated this summer.

Confirmed Zinchenko’s arrival from City for 35 ‘kilos’, the ‘gunners’ reached 132.5 million this summer with the additions of Gabriel Jesus (52.2 from the ‘cityzens’), Fabio Vieira (35 from Porto), Turner (6.36 from New England) and Marquinhos ( 3.5) being again the spending of kings. Bayern (117.5), City (108.75), Leeds (105.64), Barcelona (103)… they lag behind an Arsenal who have invested, for the moment, 300 ‘kilos’ in signatures during the last two campaigns to shape a model to The taste of Arteta.

“We want to fill our squad with some of the most exciting young talent in Europe, with players from our academy and beyond, who can grow and develop with Mikel to take us where we want to be,” Venkatesham said. in 2020. In the more than three years of Spanish, Arsenal joined Odegaard, Saka, Smith Rowe, Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus, Nketiah, Marquinhos, Fabio Vieira… in attack to form a vanguard full of youth and quality. None of them are over 25, just like Ramsdale, Saliba, White, Tomiyasu, Tavares, Lokonga…

Footballers for a style

Once Aubameyang (Barcelona) and Lacazette (Olympique Lyon) left Arsenal, the ‘9’ vanished into a team with a strong attacking vocation. “I have the positional game of the factory, of Barça. There they convinced me that it was the best way to play and, on the contrary, it was me who had to convince the other teams that it was the way to go. Offensively, positional play is in-ne-go-cia-ble. Then press high, get intense after the loss, play with the high line, in rival ground… Yes, but the nuance is given by the characteristic of the player,” he confessed to MARCA in 2019 Arteta when he was part of Guardiola’s coaching staff at City.

An idea he perfected with Pep for three years and which was brought to the Emirates. The football of the “cityzens” is the mirror in which to look at oneself. Lots of possession, speed in the pass and exchange of positions. This is the shortest way to find the Champions League.