As painful as it is, the way they’re going about things is as solid as you’re going to see in terms of building a team to compete and win things.
They realised they have an excellent manager in Arteta, they let him trim and mould the squad the way he wants, and they have consistently backed him with quality players in the 30/40/50/60 million price range every window. And to add to that, if they believe there’s a player out there to really make a difference, they’ve shown they are willing to go balls to the wall to bring in a 100 million player.
And here’s the thing, whisper is quietly for some around here, there is absolutely no reason why we shouldn’t be able to act like them. Absolutely zero.
We were in an almost identical position to them 5 years ago with Pochettino and our owners made and absolutely cock and balls of it, showing without absolutely any doubt that they have no ambition to really make us a top side to genuinely compete.
backed him with quality players in the 30/40/50/60 million price range every window
19/20
- Pepe 80m Euros - not quality but backed I guess
- Saliba - 30m Euros - one for the future - loaned out for years
- Tierney - 27m Euros - CHeap not quality
- Luis - 9m Euros - Joke
- Martinelli - 7m - quality but no where near the prices you are talking
Not one player fits the profile you mentioned in the first season
20/21
- Partey - 50m Euros - Good player but barely played for them due to fitness and is a weird character
- Gabriel - 26m Euros - Great player but what some on here would call 'cheap' doesnt fit into your price range
some other shite was bought by them that window - one player just about fits into your profile.
21/22
- White - 58m Euros - been a very good player for them and cost the a fair whack
- Odegaard - 35m Euros - great player, amazing value.
- Ramsdale - 28m Euros - meh
- Tomiyasu - 18m Euros - Backup, cheap
- Lokonga - 18m Euros - lol
- Tavarez - 8m Euros - bigger lol
22/23
- Gabriel Jesus - 52.20m Euros - Good player but not really been consistently fit or answered their need for an actual striker
- Oleksandr Zinchenko - 35.00m Euros - never been a starter but i guess falls into your profile
- Fábio Vieira - 35.00m Euros - Money fits but quality - nope
- Leandro Trossard 24.00m Euros - 'Cheap' and could not image you would be amazed by this signing in Anges 4th season
- Jakub Kiwior - 19.50m Euros - Youth player - Cheap - proving to be decent quality
- Jorginho - 11.30m Euros - hardly splashing the cash but decent cover for them when needed
Obviously last season you are right, but it took them 4 years to get there and in all the previous seasons they had spent over 40/50 million on one player a season
The rest were relatively cheap and unproven quality at the time.
in short - you're chatting shite.
Ange was backed last season more than Arteta was in his first and I'm hoping he will be backed more this than Arteta was in his second