Arsenal: What can £45 million net spend really do?

Arsenal have around £45 million to spend this summer. But in the explosive modern market where goalkeepers now cost £60 million, what can that really do?

Unai Emery is entering into a rebuild at Arsenal. He knew when he was hired. Ivan Gazidis, the mind behind this shift into the post-Arsene Wenger era, did not hide that fact. There was no point in doing so. It was plain for all to see.

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But the extent of the problem was perhaps not quite known. Gazidis himself would leave within four months of Emery’s arrival. Sven Mislintat, the head of recruitment and one of the key pieces that Gazidis had assembled, departed soon after. And the squad that Emery inherited was even bleaker than initially perceived.

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After a year of working with the players already at the club, and those signed last summer, Emery now has a clearer idea of what he believes needs to be done to improve the team. Per the reports, it seems as though winger, left-back and central midfield are his three priority positions as of now.

Last summer, he was flying blind a little. Although I am sure he understood some of the needs of the squad, as he had never worked with almost all of the players before, it would have been difficult for him to make a proper judgement.

But this time around, Emery is in a much better position to make some more meaningful personnel decisions. If last year was about determining the problems, this year is about ridding of the old foundations and building the new. And that requires some form of resource. Sadly, for Emery, he is not really going to be given any.

According to a wide range of reports, Emery will be given approximately £45 million to spend this summer. That figure could rise to around £60 million should Arsenal qualify for the Champions League, which they will now have to do via the Europa League, and it can be aided by player sales, of which there should be many. But all in all, the net spend is unlikely to be much north of £50 million.

Quite frankly, that is a pitiful amount. For a team that is apparently bent on challenging for a title, spending what will be dwarfed by at least three of their rivals is absolutely criminal. The two do no compute alongside one another. And not only will Arsenal be out-spent by their rivals, especially Manchester City and Liverpool, but they already have ground to make up on arguably all of the top six squads.

If that is true, simply spending the same is not enough. They need to be spending more. And yet, it seems as though they are set to invest what Man. City would deem is worthy of one back-up full-back or Chelsea or Liverpool would see as two-thirds of a goalkeeper. There is talk of a flashy new winger being signed, perhaps someone like Wilfried Zaha leading the wishlist, but he could cost double the budget. And that would leave no money to address the many other positions of need.

It is fair to ask: What can £45 million really do in the modern market? And the answer is not much. Arsenal cannot really do much. At this rate, the rebuild might never get off the ground.