Arsenal among Premier League’s top overperformers for money spent

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

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.

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.

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.

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