Infographic: Proof Chelsea + Man City Bought Success But Wenger Has Worked Wonders

It’s a debate many of us will have had down the pub, but does spending vast sums of money guarantee success in the Premier League? You’d probably assume the answer is yes, but as this infographic shows, there are teams out there that waste millions in striving for success.

The graphic below, put together by TonyBet – a  leading provider of Sports Betting – looks at the correlation between a clubs transfer spend and their league position over the past five seasons, and it offers some interesting results.

Unsurprisingly, Man City head up the table with an average net spend of almost £100m per year while Chelsea come in second with just over £50m, and Man Utd are third on almost £28m. It’s probably no coincidence then that these three teams have the best average position in the Premier League table too.

However, somewhat surprisingly, Stoke City come in fourth with an average net spend of nearly £19m but that has only lead to an average league position of 12th, which makes the Potters the worst value for money in the division. Aston Villa have also spent heavily, averaging over £17m but again their average position is only 12.2. These are two examples of where managers and clubs have got it wrong, but there’s certainly one man who’s got it right….

Until recently, Arsene Wenger has been known for his frugal ways in the transfer market and this graphic proves the Frenchman has worked miracles at the Emirates, securing an average position of 3.6 over the past five years whist actually making a profit! It will be interesting to see what this graphic will look like in another five years now the Gunners are spending heavily again.