Arsenal transfer spend tops £100m and smashes previous record after Gabriel Paulista signing
Gabriel Paulista may not be the most significant signing Arsenal will ever make, but the Brazilian centre-back’s arrival in North London has created a little bit of history for his new club.
After spending roughly £13m on the 24 year-old, Arsenal’s spending for the season has crossed the £100m mark. Never before have the Gunners spent so much in a single campaign.
To be specific, Arsenal have spent £105.2m on just seven players, demolishing their previous record of £57.62m set in the 2011/2012 season.
It doesn’t feel like long ago that Arsenal’s transfer windows were better defined by richer rivals plucking its stars away and chants to “spend some money” sweeping around the Emirates stadium.
With just four days remaining in the January transfer window, Arsenal are the second-biggest spenders behind Manchester City. Having also bought Krystian Bielik for £2.9m their total outlay for the month stands at £15.7m. That also makes it their second-biggest January spend since the window first came into existence 12 seasons ago. In January 2006 Arsenal spent £23.3m on Theo Walcott, Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Vela and Abou Diaby.
What will be even more encouraging to Arsenal fans is that none of the big spending has been offset by many big sales. The club’s current net spend for the season stands at £88.7m, once again obliterating the previous record of £34.9m
Why are Arsenal suddenly spending more money? The simple answer is that they have lots more of it.
The Premier League’s latest TV deal, which came into effect last season, saw the club’s broadcast income rise by £36m to £93m per season. The club’s new manufacturing deal with Puma is worth £150m, as is its current deal with sponsor Emirates.
Arsene Wenger put it best when he explained last month:
Those periods we did not spend we did not have the money. What I don’t like is to spend money we haven’t got.
What I fought against is to spend money that would put the future of the club in danger. Now I have money, no problem at all.
For Arsenal fans who have long been infuriated by the club’s perceived lack of transfer activity, this season’s splurge will represent a welcome change in approach.
And yet, many of the old frustrations remain: Arsenal are fifth and have suffered disappointing losses in the league that have set back their season. Dissent is still present in the stands and has manifested itself in unsavoury fashion.
With a 2-0 victory over Manchester City last week, Arsenal seemed to have turned a corner in their approach to games against the top sides. However, the standout performers in that game – Francis Coquelin and Santi Cazorla – have been at the club for a number of seasons.
Back in 2011 when he was questioned about his cautious approach in the transfer market, Wenger replied: “I don’t say that money doesn’t play a part in it, but it’s not only about that. What is the game about then? Football has to be even, interesting, unpredictable.”
Perhaps he had a point after all.
For a look at how Arsenal’s January spend compares to the rest of the league, explore our interactive below.
in the football calendar, and the source of frenzied excitement for fans.
Explore our interactive to find out who’s spending big during the window and who’s using the month to make some money.
- Gabriel Paulista (Villarreal CF)
£17,600,000 - Krystian Bielik (Legia Warszawa)
£2,740,000
- Benik Afobe (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
£0 - Joel Campbell (Villarreal CF)
Loan - Yaya Sanogo (Crystal Palace)
Loan - Matt Macey (Accrington Stanley)
Loan - Lukas Podolski (Inter Milan)
Loan (fee: £528,000)
- Carles Gil (Valencia CF)
£3,700,000
- Daniel Johnson (Preston North End)
£0 - Gary Gardner (Nottingham Forest)
Loan - Jordan Graham (Wolves)
£0
- Michael Keane (Manchester United)
£2,250,000
- n/a
- n/a
- Marko Marin (RSC Anderlecht)
Loan - Ulises Dávila (Vitória Setúbal FC)
Loan - Nathaniel Chalobah (Reading FC)
Loan - Tomás Kalas (Middlesbrough FC)
Loan - Todd Kane (Nottingham Forest)
Loan - Lewis Baker (Sheffield Wednesday)
Loan - Fernando Torres (AC Milan)
£2,640,000 - Mark Schwarzer (Leicester City)
£0 - Alex Kiwomya (Barnsley )
Loan
- Yaya Sanogo (Arsenal FC)
Loan
- Stuart O’Keefe (Cardiff City)
£942,000 - Andy Johnson (Released)
£0 - Alex Wynter (Colchester United)
£0 - Jake Gray (Cheltenham Town)
Loan - Jimmy Kébé (Unattached)
Released
- n/a
- Samuel Eto’o (UC Sampdoria)
£0 - Christopher Long (Brentford FC)
Loan - John Lundstram (Leyton Orient)
Loan - Ben McLaughlin (Telford United)
Loan - Hallam Hope (Bury)
£0
- n/a
- Calaum Jahraldo-Martin (Alloa Athletic FC)
Loan
- Andrej Kramaric (HNK Rijeka)
£7,920,000 - Mark Schwarzer (Chelsea)
£0
- Adam Dawson (Bristol Rovers)
Loan - Adam Smith (Mansfield Town)
Loan - Jack Barmby (Rotherham United)
Loan - Tom Hopper (Scunthorpe United)
Loan - Callum Elder (Mansfield Town)
Loan
- n/a
- Oussama Assaidi (Al-Ahli Club)
£0 - Jack Dunn (Cheltenham Town)
Loan - Kevin Stewart (Cheltenham Town)
Loan - Lloyd Jones (Cheltenham Town)
Loan
- Wilfried Bony (Swansea City)
£31,810,000
- Devante Cole (Milton Keynes Dons)
Loan - Matija Nastasic (FC Schalke 04)
Loan
- Victor Valdés (Unattached)
£0
- Michael Keane (Burnley)
£2,250,000 - Joe Rothwell (Blackpool FC)
Loan - Will Keane (Sheffield Wednesday)
Loan - Sam Johnstone (Preston North End)
Loan - Ben Pearson (Barnsley)
Loan
- n/a
- Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa (AS Roma)
£6,470,000 - Hatem Ben Arfa (OGC Nizza)
£0 - Adam Campbell (FC Gateshead)
Loan - Callum Roberts (FC Gateshead)
Loan
- Mauro Zárate (West Ham United)
Loan
- Josh Laurent (Brentford FC)
£0
- Eljero Elia (Werder Bremen)
Loan
- Jos Hooiveld (Millwall FC)
Loan
- Philipp Wollscheid (Bayer 04 Leverkusen)
Loan
- Maurice Edu (Philadelphia Union)
£0 - Tomi Adeloye (Macclesfield Town)
Loan - George Waring (Barnsley)
Loan
- Jermain Defoe (Toronto FC)
£0
- Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC)
£0 - David Ferguson (Blackpool FC)
£0 - Connor Oliver (Blackpool FC)
£0 - Mikael Mandron (Shrewsbury Town)
Loan - Scott Harrison (Hartlepool United)
Loan
- Kyle Naughton (Tottenham Hotspur)
£5,810,000
- Wilfried Bony (Manchester City)
£31,810,000 - Ashley Richards (Fulham FC)
Loan - Alan Tate (Crewe Alexandra)
Loan
- n/a
- Kyle Naughton (Swansea City)
£5,810,000 - Milos Veljkovic (Charlton Athletic)
Loan - Dominic Ball (Cambridge United)
Loan - Grant Hall (Blackpool FC)
Loan
- Callum McManaman (Wigan Athletic)
£5,590,000
- Luke Daniels (Scunthorpe United)
Loan
- Doneil Henry (Apollon Limassol)
£1,670,000
- Jamie Harney (Colchester United)
£0 - Sean Maguire (Accrington Stanley)
Loan - Mauro Zárate (QPR)
Loan - Nathan Mavila (Wealdstone FC)
Loan - Paul McCallum (Portsmouth FC)
Loan - Ricardo Vaz Tê (Akhisar Belediye Genclik ve Spor)
Loan
All data courtesy of transfermarkt.co.uk
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