I'm sure if the players we wanted were available for cheaper, Arteta would have gone that route. Also, the market has inflated hugely (just like everything else) in the past 2 years. In the past Arteta has taken chances on relatively cheaper options (eg Vieira for £35mil, Lokonga for £15mil) that haven't worked out, though looks like he hasn't given up on Vieira yet. He's gone with experiened but still young players in Havertz and Rice, who are already in PL. Much less risky than taking on youngsters from lower tier leaguess, so you inevitably pay for that. We also didn't previously have the funds to spend like this due to being out of CL for so long and a high wage bill. We got that under control and now that we're back in CL, can allow to loosen the purse strings as our revenue will go up. Inevitably, our wage bill will go up too, but it will be in line with a CL club.