This outspending statement has been exaggerated. Everyone knows the more apples you buy at the same price the costlier it gets. Here's a quick breakdown
Our total spending since the takeover:
£1,133,600,000
on 67 players (of the 67 players, 10 were free. Of the 67 players, 15 were non first team prospects)
Cost per player overall : £16,919,400
Cost per first team player : £21,176,923
Cost per first team player (excluding free players) : £26,219,048
Their total spending since our takeover:
£775,900,000
on 46 players (of the 46 players, 7 were free. Of the 46 players, 13 were non-first team prospects (well, 12 + Bebe).
Cost per player overall: £16,867,392
Cost per first team player : £22, 642,424
Cost per first team player (excluding free players) : £28,738, 461
The reason why we spent more is simply because we bought more. We bought more because we were building a competing team from a mid-table team since 2009. Now that the boot is in the other foot and they have been mid table themselves, their spending has gone from 20m in 2009 to 145.5m, 103.6m, 149m and 146m in the last four years trying to play catch up.
Perspectives.