Arsenal Overpaid By Around £50 Million For Summer Transfers

Arsenal's big spending in the summer transfer window, on the likes of Ben White, cost them around £50 million more than it should have done.

Mikel Arteta was one of the busiest managers this summer, as the Arsenal manager attempted to build a squad capable of getting back into Europe.

White was the big headline signing, costing the Gunners £50 million from Brighton, with Aaron Ramsdale's move from relegated Sheffield United and Martin Odegaard making a move to north London permanent the other big arrivals.

Despite the busy transfer window, the club's sporting director Edu came in for criticism of the strategy, and now it's potentially been made to look even worse.

In a study by TicketGum.com, Arsenal paid £156.8 million on their incomings this season but, based on Transfermarkt's valuation of the players, should only have spent £107.1 million.

White has so far only played in the opening day defeat to Brentford. Image: PA Images

White's first season in the Premier League was undoubtedly impressive for Brighton but the Gunners paid in the ballpark of double what he was worth.

Transfermarkt claim the 23-year-old, who remained an unused member of England's squad throughout the Euros, was only worth £28.8 million, and not £50 million.

Ramsdale, fresh off back-to-back relegations with the Blades and Bournemouth, should have in theory cost £19.2 million but his new side could end up spending around £30 million for him.

To make matters worse, the season hasn't exactly started well for Areta and his players, and they currently find themselves bottom of the table, having lost all three Premier League games without scoring a goal.

The lack of form even gave Roy Keane the perfect opportunity to take a dig at the team via Bukayo Saka, after the young forward's goal for England last week.

Odegaard has returned after spending the second part of last season on loan. Image: PA Images

The Gunners aren't the only ones who overspent on their summer deals, with the study also claiming that Manchester City should have saved themselves around £40 million on the deal for Jack Grealish.

Grealish's transfer clause made it impossible for a club to sign him for less, and in fairness with clubs valuing their players at the price Arsenal paid for them there wasn't much they could have done either.

On the opposite end of the scale were surprisingly Manchester United, with the study claiming Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side spent around £60 million less than they should have for Raphael Varane, Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Topics: Ben White, Arsenal, Transfers, Football, Premier League

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a journalist for SPORTbible with over eight years of experience. Passionate about all sports, he mainly covers football and F1 - Daniel Ricciardo once spent an entire interview referring to him as 'Ryan Gosling,' still his proudest moment.

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