Arsenal transfer spend hits new club record following Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez arrivals
Arsenal have spent more money this summer than ever before following the purchases of defender Shkodran Mustafi and striker Lucas Perez on the penultimate day of the transfer window.
The acquisition of German Mustafi and Deportivo speedster Perez for a respective £35m and £17m took the Gunners' summer outlay on new players to £96.1m — a new record for the club.
After spending £30m on Granit Xhaka in May, Arsenal's purse-strings pullers fielded growing calls from fans to dip into the club's considerable cash reserves and make new additions to the squad.
Yet, after a relatively quiet June and July, when youngsters Rob Holding and Takuma Asano joined for a combined £6m, Arsenal have taken their spending to a level never before seen in a single window at the Emirates.
Read more: Perez signing a gamble worth taking, insists Wenger
The club's previous record outlay came two years ago when £89.5m was spent on Alexis Sanchez, Calum Chambers, Danny Welbeck, Mathieu Debuchy and David Ospina.
At £35m, Mustafi is the most expensive defender ever signed by Arsene Wenger, who has also never spent more on a centre forward than the £17m exchanged for Perez.
It means that with just 11 hours remaining in the summer transfer window, only Manchester United and Manchester City, who have forked out £157.2m and £180.9m respectively, have spent more this summer than Arsenal.
Yet despite hitting a new club record for transfer spend in a single window, Arsenal's £96.1m window has been topped 13 times before by United, City, Chelsea, Liverpool and arch-rivals Tottenham.
