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Tottenham Hotspur don't have the same kind of international reach as Liverpool or Arsenal -- and certainly nowhere near the matchday income of the Gunners -- but they've outspent both clubs to put together their current squad. This list could change over the next three days, but as of this week. Spurs have spent more than their immediate rivals for fourth and their North London rivals.
According to Football Observatory, Spurs have spent just over €250.1m to assemble their current squad. This is quite a bit more than Arsenal's €215.7m and Liverpool's €212.6m. Yes, Spurs did break even this transfer window after selling Gareth Bale for huge money, but Arsenal have made lots of money off transfers in recent years too, making nine figures off the sales of Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie, Samir Nasri and Alex Song.
Arsenal have indisputably been better at developing their own talent or finding good young players to buy on the cheap. While Mesut Özil cost £40m, Jack Wilshere and Kieran Gibbs are home-grown players, while Aaron Ramsey came cheap. They got in early on a number of their other first choice players as well, like Wojciech Szczesny, Theo Walcott and Bacary Sagna.
This is a reminder that Spurs do have the money to compete with their rivals. They're not in the top tier and there's a clear drop-off from third to fourth, but Spurs are fourth in fees spent to accumulate their current talent. We've spent more than Barcelona, Juventus and Bayern Munich. Is it unfair for fans to demand a bit better from Franco Baldini and Daniel Levy?
