Arsenal transfer spending over the past five years assessed - where has the £200m 'war chest' gone?
The Gunners have 'no more money for a major signing' this summer despite Arsene Wenger being promised a 'war chest' of £200m in April
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Your support makes all the difference.Arsenal fans have been left indignant at the end of yet another transfer window in which the club has promised so much and delivered, well, not that much.
Back in April, reports emerged that Arsene Wenger would be handed a "war chest" of somewhere between £150m and £200m in order to turn his squad around after a disappointing end to last season.
Alexandre Lacazette arrived for a club record fee of £52m in July leaving fans fulls of hope that their usually frugal club had changed.
But as with so many summers of the past, that one big outlay has been followed by very little else.
Sead Kolasinac arrived on a free, and has settled in quickly, but the majority of the transfer rumours surrounding the club have involved those most likely to head for the exit door.
With hope that the club may still splash out on the likes of Julian Draxler, Riyad Mahrez or Jean Michael Seri heading into transfer deadline day, it has since emerged that "there is no more money for a major signing".
Despite Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's departure for a fee rising to £40m and all that money from television rights and sponsorship, Arsenal will only spend big should they manage to offload Alexis Sanchez first.
So where has all the money gone?
In the past five years, Arsenal have spent £318m on new players - with around £75m coming the other way before taking into account the Oxlade-Chamberlain deal.
| 2013/14 | -£33.39m |
| 2014/15 | -£82m |
| 2015/16 | -£21.6m |
| 2016/17 | -£86.9m |
| 2017/18 | -£19m |
None of that outlay even takes into account the millions of pounds Arsenal are spending on their squad's wages each week.
Looking back through the last five summers of rumour and hope, a pattern of mediocrity in the transfer market emerges.
Yes, there are some good bits of business - Alexis Sanchez for £38m looks like a bargain today - but there has also been a lot wasted.
Gabriel Paulista for £14m (sold to Valencia this summer at a loss), Mathieu Debuchy for £14m (played 16 minutes last season) and the exiled Lucas Perez for £13m to name but a few.
Last summer's two big signings - Granit Xhaka (£41m) and Shkodran Mustafi (£37m) - have struggled to make a big impact and the latter has even been linked with a move away in the past week.
Perhaps the question Arsenal fans should be asking is: would handing Wenger £200m in cash really be worth it anyway?
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