Manchester City v Arsenal: How Arsenal 'have gone a different way' in the transfer market to City

Arsenal's spending under Arsene Wenger has been much different than Manchester City's (GETTY IMAGES)

Arsene Wenger has claimed Manchester City "have gone a different way" in the transfer market to Arsenal.

Ahead of Arsenal’s daunting trip to the Etihad this Saturday, Wenger seems to be positioning the Gunners’ supposed prudent and measured approach to the transfer market in stark opposition to City’s stream of superstar splurges.

He has a point. In the five years since City’s Abu Dhabi revolution, they have spent over £600m on transfers. Conversely, Arsenal have only spent around a third of that amount, roughly £215m.

Even more telling is the stark difference in transfer income. City have recouped just £159m in player sales, while Arsenal have taken in £209m. Arsenal’s net transfer spend in the last 5 years therefore stands at just over £6m, a minuscule fraction of City’s £509,559,600.

These figures won’t come as a revelation to anyone who’s watched even five minutes of Sky Sports News in recent years, but they do go some way to justifying Wenger’s smugness. Arsenal have been bullied and bruised in the transfer market in recent years – with City inflicting as much damage as anyone else, having prised Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Adebayor, Samir Nasri and Gaël Clichy from the Emirates. Yet despite that, they travel to Manchester this weekend at the top of the table, six points clear of City.

It could well be argued that Arsenal currently occupy such a comfortable position because they have embraced City’s “different way”. Their £44m purchase of Mesut Ozil smashed their transfer record, and marked a very obvious change in Arsenal’s transfer policy. Before Ozil, Arsene Wenger had never spent more than £20m on a single player.

Furthermore, for all the millions spent by City, they have never been tempted into spending so extravagantly on one single player.

However, while the vast transfer fee for one player was undoubtedly an unprecedented move for Arsenal, their total outlay this summer was in fact consistent with recent years. They may have made more headlines with Ozil, but Arsenal splashed more cash in the two previous seasons.

Wenger is right, City have gone a “different way” since their takeover in 2008, but it’s a way that has led them to trophies. Wenger’s pride in keeping Arsenal competitive and in touch with the free-spending billionaires is understandable, but no football fan ever dreams of successful business models and low net spends. A successful AGM will never be a substitute for Michael Thomas gliding through Liverpool’s defence and snatching glory.

If Arsenal can grab a good result at the Etihad, they will have taken another step towards proving that City’s “different way” isn’t the only route to success.

*All figures from transfermarkt.co.uk