Declan Rice has joined Arsenal from West Ham for club-record £105m; midfielder's arrival follows that of Kai Havertz from Chelsea for £65m and Jurrien Timber from Ajax for£38m; Mikel Arteta is seeing the rewards of lowering club's wage bill, says one football finance expert
Saturday 15 July 2023 09:22, UK
Arsenal's £105m record deal for Declan Rice continues their summer of big spending - with more additions expected to follow.
Arsenal have already brought in both Kai Havertz from Chelsea for £65m and Jurrien Timber from Ajax for a fee in the region of £38m.
The Gunners have also been linked with Southampton midfielder Romeo Lavia as they attempt to overhaul Manchester City following their second-placed finish last season under Mikel Arteta.
The Rice deal has shattered Arsenal's previous transfer record - the £72m fee paid for Nicolas Pepe in 2019 - and makes him the second-most expensive signing in Premier League history following Enzo Fernandez's £106.8m move from Benfica to Chelsea last year.
It also ensures that, even with Havertz as their only other confirmed signing so far, Arsenal are by far the biggest spenders in the Premier League in a summer which is already their highest-spending ever.
Their £208m expenditure eclipses the £156.8m spent in the summer of 2021, when Arsenal brought in six players including Ben White (£50m), Martin Odegaard (£34m) and Aaron Ramsdale (£30m).
In the summer of 2022, they spent a further £121.5m, with former Manchester City duo Gabriel Jesus (£45m) and Oleksandr Zinchenko (£32m) the headline additions.
This summer's spending follows their highest January outlay under Arteta, the additions of Leandro Trossard (£27m), Jakub Kiwior (£20m) and Jorginho (£12m) racking up a bill of £59m.
So, how are they affording it?
Arsenal's spending power has been boosted by their return to the Champions League this season but football finance expert Kieran Maguire believes they are also being rewarded for the work done earlier in Arteta's tenure to reduce the wage bill.
"Arsenal are actually in a very strong position when it comes to spending," he told Sky Sports News. "The reason for that is they have managed to get their wages under control.
"Arsenal's wages are lower than they were in 2018. They are £150m to a £170m less than Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City. That has given them the flexibility to go into the market and buy new players without having to worry too much.
"Plus, they have got the additional benefits of Champions League matches coming in, premium prices and the minimum I would say prize money of £50m from being participants.
"So, you factor that all together and they've probably still got a bit of leeway in terms of what they can spend over this present window."
When asked if there's been a strategy change at Arsenal, he added: "Yes. They had a retrenchment. They went through some fallow years when they weren't qualifying for the Champions League.
"They have managed to get rid of high earners, the likes of Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang off that payroll, and that has given them the ability to now go into the market and be very competitive and try to match other clubs.
"Arsenal used to be known as the Bank of England club. They've always been well run financially, and I think this change in terms of spending is a reward for Mikel Arteta in terms of his ability to get them into those Champions League places again, which means so much in terms of enhanced revenue."
Arsenal have only accrued modest sums from player sales in recent seasons, having to instead resort to cancelling the contracts of high-earning players such as Aubameyang and Ozil.
Their biggest sale under Arteta is that of Joe Willock, who moved to Newcastle for £25m in the summer of 2021. A year earlier, Arsenal received £17m from Aston Villa for Emiliano Martinez.
Overall, though, the sums spent are far higher than those received, and that places added importance on outgoings this summer.
Arsenal confirmed their first major departure of the summer with confirmation of Granit Xhaka's £21.4m move to Bayer Leverkusen.
Arsenal are also exploring possible exit routes for Pepe, Folarin Balogun, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Nuno Tavares and Marquinhos, while Kieran Tierney and Thomas Partey's futures have also been the subject of speculation.
Balogun may be the most valuable of those assets. He is valued at £50m by the club and has attracted interest from clubs around Europe, with RB Leipzig and AC Milan reportedly among his suitors, following his 22-goal season on loan with Reims.
With the signings of Havertz and Rice now completed, and with Timber's arrival at the Emirates Stadium also imminent, the rest of the summer is likely to see more of a focus on player sales as they seek to balance the books with Financial Fair Play in mind.
If Arsenal needed any further convincing over the merits of a move for Declan Rice, they got it just after the half-hour mark during their 2-2 draw with West Ham at the London Stadium in April, writes Sky Sports' Nick Wright.
Mikel Arteta's side were two goals up and seemingly cruising towards a victory which would have sent them six points clear of Manchester City. But it all changed with a moment of quick-thinking from a player they now hope to make their record signing.
Rice, seeing Kieran Tierney about to aim a pass towards Thomas Partey deep in the Arsenal half, sets off on a sprint to close the Ghanaian down, reaching him just in time to steal possession, then carrying the ball into the box and finding the onrushing Lucas Paqueta.
The subsequent penalty, won by Paqueta and scored by Said Benrahma, shifted the momentum of the game away from Arsenal. Perhaps even that of the title race too. And it started with Rice.
That passage of play showed many of the qualities that make Rice so appealing to Arsenal: the anticipation to spot the opportunity; the speed and power to get there and emerge with the ball; the composure to set up his team-mate and force the penalty...
Who will be on the move this summer ahead of the transfer window closing at 11pm on September 1 in England and midnight in Scotland?
Keep up to date with all the latest transfer news and rumours in our dedicated Transfer Centre blog on Sky Sports' digital platforms. You can also catch up with the ins, outs and analysis on Sky Sports News.
