Arsenal's most expensive summer signings of all time - including £32m gem and £72m flop

This summer looks set to be a record-breaking transfer window for Arsenal who are finally loosening the purse strings and preparing to make multiple marquee signings in defence, midfield and attack.

Indeed, Arsenal could (and even should) end this transfer window with three new faces in the top six with Martin Zubimendi on the brink of slotting in above Ben White, and whichever striker and attacker Mikel Arteta signs out of Victor Gyokeres and Benjamin Sesko, and Rodrygo, Anthony Gordon or Eberechi Eze certain to trouble the top quarter of the list too.

It will coincide with another boom in spending at the top of the Premier League as Liverpool have set a potential British record with the signing of Florian Wirtz, Manchester City pick up where the left in January and Chelsea continue throwing money at anything that moves with view of Todd Boehly.

Unlike a certain London rival, Arsenal have made almost all of their major signings in the summer windows - only two of their top 25 most expensive arrivals have come in January. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was the high-profile one, joining from Borussia Dortmund for £56m in 2018, and bonus points if you can guess the other - he’s the Gunners’ 18th-highest signing of all time.

Arsenal’s most expensive summer signings are a mixed bag of success and failure

Of Arsenal’s 13 actual highest summer signings, probably only four have been undisputed successes in the form of Declan Rice, Ben White, Alexis Sanchez and Jurrien Timber. There’s also just two outright flops - Gabriel Jesus and of course Nicolas Pepe, probably the most forgettable mega-money transfer of the last 10 years.

Most have been a mixed bag, rewarding and frustrating the Emirates in equal measure in a manner that sums up much of the Arsenal experience in the last two decades.

Whoever the manager, whichever rivals have been in the ascendancy, Arsenal have never experienced the types of lows that Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester United have but they’ve also only won four FA Cups and a few Community Shields since they were last crowned champions of England.

Six of this 13 remain in north London as of Thomas Partey’s exit - a pretty decent retention rate - though only two will probably be in Arteta’s first-choice starting XI next season. All of these figures are courtesy of Transfermarkt, which lists transfers in euros:

Arsenal’s 13 most expensive summer signings

• Declan Rice from West Ham for €1116.6m - 2023/24
• Nicolas Pepe from Lille for €80m - 2019/20
• Kai Havertz from Chelsea for €75m - 2023/24
• Ben White from Brighton for €58.5m - 2021/22
• Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon for €53m - 2017/18
• Gabriel Jesus from Manchester City for €52.2m - 2022/23
• Thomas Partey from Atletico Madrid for €55m - 2020/21
• Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid for €47m - 2013/14
• Riccardo Calafiori from Bologna for €45m - 2024/25
• Granit Xhaka from Borussia Monchengladbach for €45m - 2016/17
• Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona for €42.5m - 2014/15
• Shkodran Mustafi from Valencia for €41m - 2016/17
• Jurrien Timber from Ajax for €40m - 2023/24