Liverpool slammed 'pure lies' over £72m forward before contract was ripped up

As much as Arsenal were the ‘plucky underdog’ in the Premier League title race last season, emerging from nowhere to lead the table for the majority of the campaign only to stumble at the final straight as Man City stormed past on their way to an historic treble, they arguably didn’t over-perform as much as you might think.

Sure, they haven’t won the Premier League since 2003/04, haven’t competed in the Champions League since 2016/17, and have won just two FA Cups since Jurgen Klopp took over as Liverpool manager in October 2015. But, at a time when the Reds went on to win everything under their charismatic German manager, was this not just a period in juxtaposition of the Gunners continually under-performing?

Before finishing second, they had three times finished fifth, once sixth, and twice eighth as their Premier League title drought reached a new low. But they haven’t spent like a side in such depths, with, according to Transfermarkt, only Chelsea and Manchester United recorded a higher net spend than the Gunners' total of €471m since the start of the 2020/21 season.

To put such figures into context, the net spend of Man City and Liverpool, the two sides consistently competing for the Premier League title over the past five seasons, stands at €162m and €225m respectively over the same time-period.

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Of course, both sides’ returns have been bolstered by significant sales along with having already built the majority of their squads to be competing for such titles in the first place. In contrast, the likes of Arsenal have repeatedly splashed the cash, not always