TODD BOEHLY AND HIS SPENDING SPREE by Ken 1945
I came across this article on Facebook and found these incredible figures along with two facts.
1. Since the American billionaire took over Chelsea (20th June 2022), the Blues have not won a single trophy.
2. They have spent nearly twice as much money on transfers as any other side in world football.
Here are the figures that were produced by “Livescore” and they are in euros :
Chelsea. = 1.21 billion
PSG = 621 million
Manure. = 550 million
Spuds. = 503 million
Arsenal. = 498 million
Bayern. = 479 million
City115. = 439 million
WHU = 412 million
Newcastle = 395 million
Remember, these are figures since the Boehly takeover and I believe they have had no European football, along with no trophies, in that time either, so their income has been reduced massively as well.
While we, quite rightly, talk about the money MA has spent, it’s interesting to see that, in my opinion, we are the only team who are showing progress and haven’t got any legal issues hanging over our heads.
The other side of the coin (and there always is one as I’ve found out) is that Chelsea have recouped a lot of money from the sale of their players compared to ourselves.
It seems that MA is trying to rectify that issue however, with the likes of ESR, Nketiah, Nelson and Ramsdale, having reported hefty transfer values against their names.
Your thoughts on the Chelsea model?
ken1945
I assume these figures do not include Calafiori’s transfer fee.
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Chelsea have obviously spent more on players than Arsenal and I believe our wage bill is lower than Man City’s/ Man United’s/ Chelsea’s
OT: Romano said Arsenal want at least £30m for Nketiah, so Marseille would most likely look for another striker. I think Arteta will have to rely on Havertz, Jesus, Nketiah and Trossard again for the CF role
Well yes but that’s a bit of a silly argument. Chelsea have bought a load of kids for the future and have sold off the entire first team making a fortune in the process. Chelsea will be judged in a few years time. No point trying to pretend they have bought for the immediate future. Chelsea have also massively lowered their wage bill and it is now lower than ours. Given all that we should obviously be finishing above chelsea for the time being and need to start winning trophies. Chelsea will be back in a couple of years time
All assuming that their purchases work out
@Gai, it’s better Nkethiah is sold if Arsenal is offered 25m. He will surely warm the bench more this season. His value would diminish nest transfer market and his age will increase. In my opinion he isn’t worth 35M considering his game time and goals last season.
I guess Arsenal think they can sell him with £30m price tag to an EPL club
Nonsense to suggest Arteta is a cheque book manager…
Surely he identifies the players and then Edu and the management team go and negotiate !!
We have had to spend big just to get back to where we used to be after many years of financial restraints due to paying for the stadium
Klopp and Pep did exactly the same and hence those clubs were years ahead in terms of squad size and ability – we are getting back there and hence why you see so many academy players on the pre-season tour
Really infuriates me with some fans who moan about Arsenal not spending and when they do they moan again !
I mean we need to be honest, chelsea have sold off their entire first team and made a fortune. All of their spending has been on u23 players who are due to reach their prime in a few years time. It will clearly take a few years to judge whether or not it’s worked. Trying to pretend this isn’t the case is just childish
Arteta has been spending money for much longer, now has a much more experienced squad and has generated a fraction of what chelsea have in sales. Chelsea continue to buy kids whilst we have bought a lot more experienced players on far higher wages like rice havertz Jesus merino Raya etc.
No more excuses. With the money arteta has spent it is time to deliver. 1 fa cup to his name is not good enough considering the fortune we have spent. We have splashed the cash in a way we used to mock other clubs for but haven’t had the same success. Let’s just accept we have spent a load of money and need to win trophies. No point trying to pretend chelsea aren’t making money off sales and aren’t buying for the future
We haven’t been good at selling Ken1945. Arteta did rip contracts and let go players unfortunately. Albeit necessary for the rebuild, I hope no more of this going forward
Agree. That is where chelsea have been far better than us. I think they will have made around £500m from sales by the end of this window since boehly took over. So we shouldn’t kid ourselves about Chelsea’s net spend relative to ours. They sell very well and have made a fortune while buying kids who will be ready to compete in a couple of years time. Comparing them to us is a bit silly.
They can sell well because they had some of the very best players available when under the Abramovitch regime
Good point again SueP.
Bebbisin, but what if those young players don’t work out?
Just take Mudryk as an example.
Reportedly on a eight year contract worth over £150 grand a week and, to date, a very expensive flop.
Look how they are treating their players.
Without Abramovitch, they were a lower table club and, if they carry on this way, that’s where they’ll be again.
Agreed Kenya001… up until now!!
If we can get the reported asking price for Nketiah, Nelson and the £50 million suggested for Ramsdale (who I don’t want to leave) then we could have a different picture.
I just read an interview that EDU has just given to a publication called “Men in Blazers” this week. It clearly demonstrates his and Arteta’s methods: This is what he said:
“Sometimes you have to make decisions that are not popular and popular,” he said. “You have to be very strong in your ideas, what you believe, what is good for the club, what is good for the future of the club and everything.
“So for me, there is some elements here in football which I will always be with a lot of attention. I always started to see the squad when I enjoyed or when I see the squads I started to the squad balance, the positions, the age, the group what we have but there are three elements here which for me you have to be really aware.
“First of all, we have to see the age of the player, and then you have to see the salary of the player and the third you have to see the performance of the player. So if you have a over 26, 27-years-old you need attention.
“If his salary is high, you need attention and if he’s not performing, you’re dead. Let’s come back, if you have a player 27-years-old, 28-years-old, big salary, but he’s performing you can accept.
“What you cannot accept is if you have those three elements and one of them went over 28 you start to be uncomfortable, it’s better for you to move on because maybe this player is blocking someone younger as an asset to help you. So, when I came into Arsenal, when I see all the squads with all my respect, almost everyone was almost 26, 27, biggest salaries not performing.
“If you have those three elements, which club in the world want to come here and buy one of our players, no one. So how you deal with that situation when you have those situation in your hands, you have to be strong and sometimes you have to make decisions.
“So, or you go strong and try to make those decisions to let those players go or your project is going to take instead of three, four years it will take seven, eight, nine. Then unpopular decisions start to come, because most of the players watch, they have those elements sometimes in the club they a fan base, they have the media which love the players but for the club its not healthy to keep those players in that situation.”
Very clear and telling. But no one will read it unfortunately. People have made their opinions. To see the condition we we’re in, there was really no other choice, or we would have never reached the levels we reached last 2 seasons after 3 years.
I believe MA and Edu have simply tried to do (as instructed by the ownership) what’s been necessary financially to get the Arsenal back where it belongs. Without the spending, there’s little hope; but, without good on-the-pitch and off-the-pitch management by the hierarchy, the spending is almost as meaningless as many clubs (including Chelsea) have shown.
As far as Boehly is concerned, he’s primarily been able to get away with it at least in the short run by amortizing those ridiculously long term contracts.
Ultimately I believe his plan will only work if the players bring the club back to the top level. I don’t personally believe this will happen until he keeps his ego out of the dressing room and managerial matters. You have to make certain that the players know that what the manager says is what goes or else the manager loses respect and things go awry.
If his plan works, in hindsight it will be considered a masterstroke of resurrection. If not, how much did they say the club was worth?
Is there or has there ever been any manager at the Top that has never been a chequebook manager?
Even the mid table managers have to buy or want to spend given the opportunity.
Pretty much every manager in the league is a cheque book manager. It’s only because the likes of Klopp and Pep know how and when to sell, their overall net spend is not as bad looking as ours is.
We can’t sell for s*ite.
That Mikel Arteta is a checkbook manager is a hard fact that leaves no room for opinion.
It’s completely irrelevant regarding this fact that:
1. Other clubs have spent more than us.
2. That we have made progress than all of them.
3. That it was necessary to rebuild.
He is a checkbook manager simply because he doesn’t develop players he buys ready made players developed elsewhere.
A checkbook manager is an identity and I have never seen any manager so fitting of that identity than Arteta.
As an example if I smoke cigarettes I am a smoker that is a cold fact. If I say my neighbor smoke two more packets than me and I am healthier than him it still doesn’t change the fact that I am a smoker.
So you completely ignore the statements by the players, such as Saliba, Rice, Odegaard regarding Arteta and how he changed their games and how much they think they have learned under Arteta, almost a repeating notion from every player that Arteta sees football in such a way they never thought possible before.
And here you are proclaiming Arteta never develop players. Everyone in the football industry, regard Arteta very high in terms of coaches for players to develop and learn from, and you say he buys, “ready made players”. Just seems like a back up plan for you to not give any credits to Arteta as a manager if he wins major honors in the future. ” He just got good players and so we had to win, he didn’t do anything extraordinary…”
Lol
No checkbook ever manager do anything extraordinary. They buy their way to extraordinarily.
You want extraordinary? Ranieri and Leicester that was extraordinary. Wenger and the invincibles that was extraordinary. Ferguson and the treble with the players he nurtured from A to Z that was extraordinary.
Saliba is Emery’s gem who Arteta casted away. Marseille coach then developed him into world class for Arteta to embrace him after being embarrassed by his decision to freeze him.
Rice cost 100 million. How stupid would any club be to pay that amount for undeveloped player?
Odegaard was made captain immediately after he was BOUGHT from REAL MADRID. You don’t play for Madrid, cost 30 million and made captain of both National and club teams if you are not already am established player.
Arteta is checkbook manager like many others only with nothing to show for it. He is a bottler to boot.
As if Wenger wasn’t a cheque book manager 😂😂😂. He BOUGHT the vast majority of the Invincibles ! Only one of them came through the ranks, Ashley Cole, and he was nearly sold to Crystal Palace.
If I list how many players the great Arsene Wenger brought up and developed you will be embarrassed. You already know all of them by the way but hey let’s not let honesty get in the way.
One thing for sure he was not a bottler.
So is this your latest point of argument is it?
Mikel Arteta is a “bottler” (whatever that mean), and Wenger was definitely NOT a “bottler” (whatever that means.
Is that the basis for an intelligent discussion about the merits of two completely different managers? If so, it is a very “thin” discussion (Whatever that means)
HH, please do list those players, and while you’re at, list how much we paid for them.
Bottler ? Please explain.
Is the gaffer a check book manager? That answer will depend on who you ask ?
It is said, for every point the Citizens earn, it has set them back over a whopping £600,000
There is no doubt our gaffer has been back to the hilt in the transfer market, critique will argue, never had they seen such support before, and one could go on that other’s before has done considerably better with far less resources.
The question maybe a provocating one, as the jury could be still out on this one, with all things considered 😉
I found it interesting that spurs and WHU were such big spenders over the last 2 years. The others would have been on my radar – particularly Utd and Chelsea
The fact is that City are blessed with many seasons of winning things and having a top man at the helm which allows them to buy expensive players when necessary, develop others and generally keep the situation rolling along very nicely.
I noted Utd who haven’t been stable or winning the important stuff have been profligate- like Chelsea. Bad owners and poor senior management unlike Abramovitch who was virtually Teflon coated and kept winning.
Without putting blame on any manager, but recognising that AW had a bad couple of years, Emery faring no better and Arteta learning on the job, it was a tough time. It’s also fair to add that the previous senior management team were also culpable for much of the issues and eventually the Kroenkes’ acted. I didn’t think it would take so long to climb back up the league. Judging by Arteta’s comments about the CL, I guess he didn’t expect it either. All three managers have had a role in this and I take the view that it was correct for the club to invest. Josh Kroenke clearly has confidence in Arteta and Edu and that is now paying dividends.
Isn’t it a case that like any business to thrive, careful and considered investment is necessary?
I think we have to be a little careful here with these figures as they cover only two years. Of course, Chelsea haven’t won a trophy in that time, but neither has Arsenal (albeit with much lower spending) so from that singular viewpoint, they’re both failures – albeit Arsenal is a less expensive one.
Surely, we (as Gooners) should be concerned with Arsenal’s expenditure since Arteta arrived as that’s the obvious point to the cheque-book manager debate. What Chelsea (or any other club) does is irrelevant to what Arsenal has or hasn’t done.
According to Transfermarkt, since 2019-20, Arsenal has spent €836m to 2023-24. Since then, they’ve spent a reported €71m on Raya/Calafiori in this window bringing the total spend to approx. €907m.
Arsenal’s income from transfers over the 2019-20 – 2023-24 period was some €197m. In addition, they’ve recouped a reported €41m (for ESR) in this window bringing the total to €238m.
Arsenal’s net spend on transfers since 2019-20 is therefore approx. €669m.
The question is: does this represent good value for money for Arsenal? One answer could be “Yes” in that Arsenal have been transformed from a club in a rut to PL challengers over the last two seasons. On the other hand, it could be “No” because the only silverware won for the expenditure of well over half a billion euros is a solitary FA Cup.
I value your contributions BMK as there is always a balanced view
The rut was quite deep and we were slipping ever so slowly.
The question I would ask is where would we be now without (a) the investment and (b) a manager who is, fortunately, not flattering to deceive ?
The fact remains that the Liverpool/City squad we competed with last year cost more than ours to assemble and cost over 100 million a year more in wages to maintain.
Removing wages from the equation is done to mislead people and setting random time limits is done to do the same.
How much did the squad as a whole cost?
How much do they cost in wages?
That gives you your baseline for who’s outspent and who should be expected to finish where on financials alone.
Further analysis could then be done on the success of signings and in that regard Arsenal is miles clear because the successful have increased value substantially and the flops were all low cost in the 1st place. The worst potentially being Vieira and Odegaard alone has gone up in value substantially more than that transfer fee.
So Pepe was a low cost flop then Angus?
Of course if your successful, your value goes up and visa versa.
So why are we unable to sell the players that the club want to sell and labelled “deadwood”?
Were they bought badly, given to high salaries or just flops?
Can you give me your example of city and liverpool salaries costing a £100 million a year more in wages, as, try as I may, I can’t seem to work that out?
This was inevitable ever since City and Chelsea joined up to make the Big Six We used to just have Manu as the biggest spender but now it’s the top six clubs spending fortunes
Reply to HH. The alternative which I think would have suit you is to get a manager that doesn’t spend ( definitely not arteta, as he’s a cheque book manager), that promote young players and don’t terminate players contract at will. I believe am speaking your mind.
As a result we won’t have bought the players we have now, another manager, lots of youth players in the first team and Ozil,PEA and Pepe will still be in the team. Now if all this have happened what position do you think the club will be now?