Arsenal fans complaining about city spending money should read this post below.

Hi all,

I’m a man United fan, but hate Arsenal. I’m annoyed when I see their annoying fans complain about Man City spend. When I mention net spend, they mention Arsenal swayed was worth nothing when arteta took over, so I created the below.

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If you mean squad market value around 26 December 2019, using Transfermarkt valuations from that period:
Club Approx. squad value
🔴 Arsenal €607.7m
🔵 Manchester City €1.05bn
Difference ~€442m

So Manchester City’s squad was worth roughly 1.7× Arsenal’s — about €442 million more.
Transfermarkt’s 2019/20 squad data gives Arsenal at €607.65m and Manchester City at €1.05bn.

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If we take 26 December 2019 as the starting point and measure transfer net spend (fees paid minus permanent-transfer income) through 2 September 2026, the comparison is roughly:

Since 26 Dec 2019 Arsenal Man City
Net spend ~£1.1bn £500–550m

Difference Arsenal ~£550–600m more

How that breaks down:
Arsenal: BBC calculated £698.6m net spend under Arteta through August 2025.

Arsenal then had about £258m net spend in 2025/26, according to financial analysis, and around £166m net spend in the 2026 summer window so far.

City then had roughly £168m net spend in 2025/26, followed by substantial sales offsetting much of their 2026 spending. Current 2026/27 figures vary by source, but Football365 has City at about £54m net after the major sales.

Bottom line: Since Arteta arrived/around your 26 Dec 2019 starting point, Arsenal have spent roughly £1.1 billion net, compared with around £0.5 billion for Man City — so Arsenal's net spend is approximately £600m higher.

That's quite a striking comparison given that City's squad was worth ~€440m more than Arsenal's in December 2019.