I am not mixing anything up, and neither is it nonsense. The net transfer spends are an easily accessible quantitative indicator of a club's commitment in the transfer market.
To be clear, here is the data again:
Summer 2024: +£115m
January 2025: -£185m
Summer 2025: -£66m
I claimed that City, at the end of the lifespan of the 4 title-winning side have not being aggressive enough in the transfer market, and that is what the data shows. It needs to be benchmarked against Premier League rivals to get a better picture. I know what Arsenal, Liverpool, Man Utd, Chelsea etc have spent in these windows and we are lagging behind.
This is just one indicator. Man Utd, or Chelsea, can spend huge amounts on poor players, however, if you review City's spending since the takeover it has fallen and changed in nature. We used to buy star players, now we buy young players who still have some way to go. The emergence of the academy has also led to larger transfer outflows.