Arsenal among Premier League’s top overperformers for money spent | OneFootball

Only Sunderland overperformed more against the money they spent than Arsenal in the Premier League this season, according to new analysis.

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Martyn Ziegler reports for The Times that financial analysis by Twenty First Group puts Arsenal as the second-biggest overperformers in the Premier League this season.

The analysis was based on the clubs’ most recent annual accounts (2024/25) and agent fees (2025/26), and based on Arsenal’s investment relative to other clubs they would have been expected to rack up 67 points. Instead, the Gunners managed 85 (a difference of +18) and won the league.

The only club to overperform by more was Sunderland, who were expected to pick up 36 points and instead managed 54. That’s also a difference of +18, but the Black Cats seemingly just narrowly had the edge on the decimal points.

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At the other end of the league, Wolves were the biggest underperformers (expected 47, actual 20, for -27), but Chelsea weren’t far behind (expected 74, actual 52, for -22).

Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool were also way down the list at 17th and 15th respectively.

The other two big-six clubs finished roughly where they were expected to, with Manchester City earning 78 points compared to 72 expected (+6), and Manchester United getting 71 points compared to their 67 expected (+4). Both minor overperformances, but nowhere close to Arsenal’s.

Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images For Premier League

The Times highlight that this is the fifth year in a row of overperformance for Arsenal, and they put that down to shrewd recruitment, outstanding coaching, and the club’s use of the academy.

With the likes of Bukayo Saka, Myles Lewis-Skelly, and most recently Max Dowman stepping up to contribute with the first team, Arsenal have saved themselves a lot on transfer fees and added a lot of value to the team in the process.