The Premier League is awash with money and many teams simply don’t know or haven’t spent it wisely enough, but not Arsenal or Liverpool.
Mikel Arteta is hoping to follow in Jurgen Klopp’s footsteps by winning the Premier League title, and if he does, then his club-record transfer of Declan Rice will end up playing a huge part.
Just like the ice-cool Virgil van Dijk did when he joined Liverpool in 2018 from Southampton for a world record fee of £75 million.
If you look at the list of the Premier League’s most expensive transfers, you have the likes of Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo, Paul Pogba, Harry Maguire, Jadon Sancho and Romelu Lukaku on that list.
Every single one of those players has flopped or are currently struggling, but Michael Owen thinks Arsenal and Liverpool have made two of the best ‘pound-for-pound signings’, as he told Premier League Productions (04/02/24 at 1:25 pm).
Of that list of expensive purchases, the former England striker, in no particular order, has Declan Rice and Virgil van Dijk, as number one and two.
Michael Owen thinks the England midfielder has been the ‘safest bet’, there was ‘little risk’ with his £105 million transfer and he is someone who is always going to give you ‘8 or 9 out of ten’.
Whilst he thinks Liverpool’s Champions League-winning defender has been ‘one of the Premier League’s most incredible signings’.
Declan Rice and Virgil van Dijk transfers
“The best pound-for-pound signings, I would say,” said Owen about Rice and van Dijk. “Absolutely brilliant.
“Declan cost a lot of money, but it was probably the safest bet you were going to get. He’s mentally very, very straightforward. Talented player. He has a history of playing and no injuries. He was used to the Premier League. He didn’t have to move, in terms of location and family. Very, very few question marks. There was very little risk with Rice, he was always going to give you 8 or 9 out of 10.
“Virgil van Dijk, of course, few question marks about him as well. He had a period of time in the Premier League and we had seen him. But he has just been one of the best signings of all time for Liverpool, let alone the Premier League. He has been one of the Premier League’s most incredible signings. He has exceeded anything that anybody could have expected.
“Those two signings on that list (of Premier League’s most expensive signings). I would have them first and second.”
Can Arsenal follow in Liverpool’s footsteps?
It was a huge win for Arsenal on Sunday at the expense of Liverpool, with van Dijk producing a moment to forget.
When Jurgen Klopp brought in the Dutchman and goalkeeper Alisson Becker, they were the final cherries on the cake that then led to the team winning every trophy possible.
Mikel Arteta will be hoping someone like Rice will do the same because he has been faultless since his move from West Ham United in the summer.
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