Sure, they haven’t won the Premier League since 2003/04, haven’t competed in the Champions League since 2016/17, and have won just two FA Cups since Jurgen Klopp took over as Liverpool manager in October 2015. But, at a time when the Reds went on to win everything under their charismatic German manager, was this not just a period in juxtaposition of the Gunners continually under-performing?
Before finishing second, they had three times finished fifth, once sixth, and twice eighth as their Premier League title drought reached a new low. But they haven’t spent like a side in such depths, with, according to Transfermarkt, only Chelsea and Manchester United recorded a higher net spend than the Gunners' total of €471m since the start of the 2020/21 season.
To put such figures into context, the net spend of Man City and Liverpool, the two sides consistently competing for the Premier League title over the past five seasons, stands at €162m and €225m respectively over the same time-period.
Of course, both sides’ returns have been bolstered by significant sales along with having already built the majority of their squads to be competing for such titles in the first place. In contrast, the likes of Arsenal have repeatedly splashed the cash, not always successfully, in an attempt to reignite their fortunes.
The most infamous example of such free-spending is club record signing Nicolas Pepe. Which his record was broken when the Gunners signed Declan Rice from West Ham United in a deal reportedly set to be worth in excess of £100m with add-ons, the £72m Arsenal spent to land the Ivory Coast forward from Lille in the summer of 2019 remains their current most extravagant outlay.Admittedly, Pepe had been the breakout star of Ligue 1 in 2018/19, scoring 23 goals and registering 12 assists for a young Lille side and establishing a reputation as one of the brightest young prospects in Europe.
Such form even saw Liverpool fans desperate for their side to land the Ivorian, despite the fact that their own attacking triumvirate of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, and Mohamed Salah had just delivered them the Champions League.
Reports in France were adamant that the Reds were in for the winger, and were even favourites to land his signature. Yet, with his favoured position the same inverted wide-forward role from the right as Salah, it remains a mystery how anyone expected Pepe to fit in at Anfield.
Liverpool were perplexed at such constant transfer speculation linked them with the Ivory Coast international, adamant that they were not interested in the forward. Then-sporting director Michael Edwards would personally reach out to Lille manager Christophe Galtier to say that he did not know where these reports were coming from and that the Reds had zero interest in Pepe.
The Reds even went public to label the reported interest as "pure lies", a fact Edwards also made clear during the club's US tour that summer. It would seem that behind the scenes, someone was using the name of the newly-crowned European champions for their own means.
Liverpool would remain true to their word as Pepe completed his club-record £72m move to Arsenal in August 2019. In the four years that have followed, the Gunners must wish they had never bothered.
Starting 29 times in 2019/20, making 42 appearances in all competitions, he would return a respectable enough eight goals and 10 assists for Arsenal. Such goal contributions included a vital strike in the FA Cup quarter-finals against Sheffield United, and assists against both Man City and Chelsea as the Gunners won the famous domestic cup, with such a prize earning them European qualification that they would have otherwise missed out on.
Yet his return of five goals and six assists in the Premier League was in stark contrast to his returns for Lille as Pepe underwhelmed and Arsenal stumbled to an eighth place finish, while also suffering premature Europa League and League Cup exits.
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