Mikel Arteta has been told how Arsenal compare to their Premier League rivals in terms of net spend over the last two transfer windows. Last month, the Gunners were found to have not breached the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) following a review of the latest results.

Under PSR, clubs in the English top flight are not permitted to record more than £105m in losses over a three-year period; a figure that's reduced by £22m for every season a team isn't in the Premier League. Arsenal were declared compliant, avoiding punishment of any sort, such as a point deduction or fine.

Despite having been given the green light and Arteta keen to bolster his frontline, the North Londoners were reluctant to splash the cash in January. football.london understands Arsenal submitted a £40m proposal for Ollie Watkins, plus add-ons, in the final days of the winter window.

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Unsurprisingly Aston Villa rejected the bid, demanding £60m for the 29-year-old striker's signature. It's understood that Watkins was keen on the idea of a move to the Emirates Stadium and, had the two Premier League clubs agreed on a deal, he would've made the switch.

Unfortunately for Arteta, Arsenal fell short of the mark. After failing to prise Watkins from Villa Park, the Gunners will end the 2024/25 campaign in the green, with a net spend of +€17m (£14.2m), according to the CIES Football Observatory.

Accounting for any add-ons regardless of their effective payment or receipt, as well as fees earned from sell-ons, and loans that may include a non-conditional obligation to buy, Arsenal invested €121m (£100.9m) on new players while banking €138m (£115.2m) on sales over the two windows.

The club could end the season in profit and would be well-positioned to make a splash in the summer transfer window. Meanwhile, over the summer and winter window, the CIES Football Observatory report states Manchester United (-€160m/-£133.6m), Chelsea (-€139m/-£116m) and Tottenham Hotspur (-€120m -£100.2m) all recorded negative net spends.

This will all come as a huge boost for Arsenal at the end of the season. According to Dave Powell, the chief business of football writer for Reach PLC, the Gunners are well positioned to spend big in the summer amid reported interest in Newcastle United superstar Alexander Isak.

The football finance expert said: "The club are predicted to be PSR net positive for 2023/24 to the tune of around £29m, meaning the three-year net PSR position will be £14m, making an allowable loss for the club for 2023/24 of £119m, meaning that they have plenty of headroom and no PSR concerns.

"Assuming the same level of allowable deductions are applied, around £42m annually, to the current financial year of 2024/25, then the forecast is that Arsenal, for the current reporting period that runs until the end of May, could lose as much £164m before tax and still be able to remain PSR compliant.

"The club won’t get anywhere near that kind of loss having enjoyed another season in the Champions League, albeit with some additional wage spend and amortisation costs due to transfer activity. The Champions League run so far has booked them £77m, and that is before taking into account the four games already played at home, as well as at least one to come in the knockout phase.

"That would be worth around £20m to the Gunners, taking them closer to the £100m mark already. That means that revenues for the 2024/25 financial year are likely to be even higher than they were for the record-breaking 2023/24 period, and that means that they have plenty of dry powder for the market."