Another Arsenal transfer myth exposed as Noni Madueke price tag sparks flawed claims

Arsenal are not going to spend £52million on a back-up. Right?

Well this is the claim being made by many in the wake of the news that the Gunners have agreed a £50million-plus deal with Chelsea, inclusive of add-ons, to sign Noni Madueke from their London rivals. It is yet another player from the Blues making the switch from west to north London which in itself has supporters experiencing some fatigue.

Before the window opened, the hope was that Arsenal would upgrade their wide area with a signing who might even start alongside their brand new striker and Bukayo Saka. Effectively demoting the likes of Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard permanently, or at least regularly, to the bench.

Madueke, in many people’s minds, mine included, does not do that. But that is of course assuming that Madueke is being signed as that player, which again personally I do not feel he is.

Arsenal have needed depth for Saka for a very long time. His injury last season, which saw him miss around four months of action, effectively ended Arsenal’s Premier League title hopes after needing surgery on his hamstring.

Arsenal dropped 11 points from a maximum of 36, almost a third of those available during Saka's absence. This included draws to Brighton, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, and Manchester United—teams that, had Arsenal possessed a fit Saka, would have been seen as very beatable.

They lost 1-0 at home to West Ham, which at the time was seen as the nail in the coffin for the remaining hopes of catching Liverpool. It is Madueke's price tag, though, which has people believing it is simply too much to spend on a player offering cover.

Well, let’s take a look at some of the business of the title-winning sides to see if this is indeed normal behaviour. Manchester City, for example, after spending £100million on Jack Grealish, spent another £55.5million on Jeremy Doku and a season later signed Savinho.

While having Rodri, Man City have spent a combined £125million, inclusive of add-ons, on Kalvin Phillips, Mateo Kovacic and Nico Gonzalez. While adding Matheus Nunes from Wolves, in addition, and re-signing Ilkay Gundogan on a free transfer.

Liverpool, meanwhile, added the signings of Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez to the squad while having Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz, Fabio Carvalho and Diogo Jota among their ranks. João Palhinha was signed in his late twenties by Bayern Munich for a massive fee despite the German side already having Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich, who could play in defensive midfield, and in terms of attackers, the Bundesliga champions continue to spend huge sums on a plethora of forward stars.

Real Madrid spent big sums trying to deputise Karim Benzema with moves for Luka Jovic, Mariano Diaz and Alvaro Morata. While Barcelona tried to spend big on Nico Williams despite already having arguably the world’s most in-form wide pairing in world football.

Having already spent big money on Vitor Roque and Ferran Torres in addition to the loan signing of Joao Felix to add to Robert Lewandowski, they appear just fine. These are just the tip of the iceberg.

Is this big-money move, no matter what our views on the player, therefore just a sign of Arsenal being among Europe’s elite now and competing for the biggest honours? Buying players to cover and compete with your starters simply costs big money.

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