Arsenal have claimed some north London bragging rights as the 2025 summer transfer window approaches its conclusion.
The Gunners have completed the signing of Eberechi Eze for an initial £60 million from FA Cup winners Crystal Palace, swiping the England international from under the noses of bitter rivals Tottenham.
After the rush of excitement around a big signing dies down, however, Eze's arrival will shine an even harsher spotlight on manager Mikel Arteta ahead of what feels like a now-or-never season.
Arsenal finished as Premier League runners-up for a third successive season in 2024/25, beaten to glory by Liverpool having twice been pipped by Manchester City. Arteta beat his old mentor Pep Guardiola en route to FA Cup glory in 2020, but that remains his lone major trophy at Emirates Stadium.
The improvement since Unai Emery's ill-fated stint as Arsene Wenger's successor at Arsenal is clear, but it has come at no little expense. Arteta is now approaching a huge spending landmark in the sixth year of his tenure.
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Has Mikel Arteta spent £1 billion at Arsenal? Every Gunners transfer since December 2019
The Eze deal takes Arteta's overall spending at Arsenal to £920 million.
There have been various claims that Eze's transfer takes Arteta beyond £1 billion in expenditure since his appointment in December 2019. One explanation for this discrepancy could be that some calculations have converted all fees to pound sterling at the current exchange rate. Another might be the inclusion of agents' fees, which would, in all likelihood, bring us closer to the £1bn mark.
The list below features all initial fees paid in pounds at the time of the deal. It does not include performance-related add-ons, some of which will already have been paid to make Arteta's expenditure higher.
For example, Declan Rice's £105m move from West Ham was broken down as £100m up front, plus another £1m every year that Arsenal qualified for the Champions League and Rice played 60% of their games (as per Sky Sports). As such, Arsenal have paid another £2m to date for the England midfielder, but the stipulations surrounding other add-ons are not as widely known or easy to calculate. Eze's transfer fee will eventually be £67.5m if all add-ons are paid to Palace
Arteta did not spend any money in his first transfer window at the helm in January 2020, when Pablo Mari and Cedric Soares joined on loan.
Every Arsenal signing under Mikel Arteta
2020/21
Pablo Mari — £7.2m
Cedric Soares — free
Willian — free
Gabriel — £23.14m
Alex Runarsson — £1.8m
Thomas Partey — £45m
2021/22
Nuno Tavares — £7.2m
Albert Sambi Lokonga — £15.75m
Ben White — £50m
Martin Odegaard — £30m
Aaron Ramsdale — £24m
Takehiro Tomiyasu — £16m
2022/23
Marquinhos — £3.5m
Fabio Vieira — £29.9m
Matt Turner — £5.5m
Gabriel Jesus — £45m
Oleksandr Zinchenko — £30m
Leandro Trossard — £21m
Jakub Kiwior — £17.6m
Jorginho — £12m
2023/24
Kai Havertz — £62m
Jurrien Timber — £34.3m
Declan Rice — £100m
David Raya — £3m (loan fee)
2024/25
David Raya — £27m
Riccardo Calafiori — £33.6m
Mikel Merino — £27.4m
Tommy Setford — £800,000
2025/26
Kepa Arrizabalaga — £5m
Martin Zubimendi — £55.8m
Cristian Norgaard — £10m
Noni Madueke — £48.5m
Cristhian Mosquera — £13m
Viktor Gyokores — £55m
Eberechi Eze — £60m
TOTAL: £920 million
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Arsenal spending compared to Premier League rivals
Arteta's spending figure seems gargantuan and it is, beyond the wildest dreams of the vast majority of football clubs.
However, as the table below shows, within the Premier League's heavyweight clubs, Arsenal's gross spending is about par.
Premier League spending since December 2019
| Team | Jan 2020 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 | 2025/26 | TOTAL |
| Arsenal | — | £77.14m | £142.95m | £164.5m | £199.3m | £88.8m | £247.3m* | £920m |
| Chelsea | £580k | £222.5m | £102m | £574.8m | £407.2m | £218.9m | £262.2m | £1.79bn |
| Liverpool | £7.25m | £74.25m | £83m | £110.8m | £145.4m | £10m | £291.2m | £721.9m |
| Man City | — | £143.54m | £125.25m | £172.4m | £233.5m | £204.4m | £155.6m | £1.03bn |
| Man United | £47m | £76.6m | £119.9m | £204m | £170.4m | £223m | £199.8m | £1.04bn |
Manchester City and Manchester United have each broken the £1bn barrier during this period, while Chelsea have overshot it by a distance amid the accelerated spending of the Todd Boehly era.
Liverpool have spent the least of the big five over this period and won two league titles. Here lies the nub for Arteta. Arsenal have not won a major trophy since the 2020 FA Cup, during which time City have won four Premier Leagues and a treble, Chelsea have lifted the Champions League and even United have won a couple of domestic cups.
Perhaps Eze will be the man to end that wait.