Arsenal: 2016, the summer that ruined the top-four finish

Arsenal spent more than they ever had in one transfer window in the summer of 2016. And yet, it was the summer that ruined the top-four finish.

Arsenal had just finished second in the league. Leicester City were the unlikely champions and many of the elite teams were yet to sort themselves out. Manchester City had only just hired Pep Guardiola, Chelsea turned to Antonio Conte, Spurs and Liverpool’s projects were still in their infancy, and Manchester United had an ancient monster in charge.

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This was the chance that Arsene Wenger had been waiting for to take advantage of the unreadiness of his rivals. And suddenly, the club decided to spend. After signing no outfield players the previous summer, they spent more than they ever had done in one summer window, the best part of £100 million.

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The three players that constituted the majority of that spending was Granit Xhaka, Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez. Their fees, £35 million for Xhaka and Mustafi and £18 million for Perez, totalled £88 million. Rob Holding and Takuma Asano were also signed that summer to take the spending up near the £100 million mark.

It was nice to see Arsenal spending, trying to rival the likes of City and Liverpool who were heavily investing in their squad each and every summer in pursuit of a title. But I asked at the time whether a world-class player had actually been signed? Yes, topping the £30 million-mark twice was refreshing, but if you hid the prices and just looked at the players, would you consider any of the players that were acquired truly elite?

At the time, it was an impossible question to ask. Assessing any signing as soon as it has been made is utterly futile. Time is necessary for accurate analysis. But now, two-and-a-half years later, it is rather easy to answer. And it is not a nice response.

Perez has already left the club and is currently unable to get in the West Ham starting XI, Mustafi has been a disaster at centre-half and would do well to command anything more than half of what his price was when Valencia sold him, and the jury, somehow, is still out on Xhaka as a useful contributor, though to call him world class would be at best odd and more accurately irresponsible.

This was the summer of wasteful acquisition. Arsenal have not finished in the top four since. They have not played in the Champions League since the 2016/17 season. They have only regressed. Wenger ultimately lost his job a result of these players’ inability to address the needs of the team.

The 2016 summer is the summer that ruined Wenger’s top-four finishes. It is also the summer that Unai Emery is now rebuilding from, almost three years later.