Arsenal reluctance to spend big and their transfer policy explained by agent Jon Smith

Arsenal's reluctance to spend big in transfer windows like the top clubs in the Premier League is down to the Gunners manager Arsene Wenger and the club's statistical system in signing players, according to super-agent Jon Smith.

The north London club added Granit Xhaka, Rob Holding, Skhodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez to their first team squad, with the last two arriving at the Emirates at the end of the summer transfer window.

On the other hand, Manchester United and Manchester City have bolstered their squads early in the transfer window. Jose Mourinho helped the Red Devils complete a world-record signing of Paul Pogba, while securing the services of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Eric Bailly.

City have signed several key players and the list includes the likes of Ilkay Gundogan, Nolito, John Stones, Leroy Sane and Gabrile Jesus. Smith, in his book, The Deal: Inside the World of a Super-Agent, explains how Arsenal's transfer policy has changed since Stan Kroenke became the majority shareholder at the Emirates.

"Since Stan Kroenke took a majority shareholding in the club, they have created matrices for players, a bit like Moneyball," the Evening Standard quoted Smith as saying.

"And if a player doesn't quite meet all the criteria, the matrix tells them not to offer more than a certain amount. That is what Arsene means when he talks about value.

"Four years ago, they bought a company called StatDNA in Chicago, which owns an operation in Cambodia where they crunch every conceivable number relating to a footballer.

"They will take a player and collate data based on every pass, sprint, shot, assist, goal - you name it - he has ever made.

"These stats are fed into a computer that assesses strengths and weaknesses against every professional in the game before producing an overall value of that player.

"Arsenal tend to use statistics to raise questions or confirm observations on possible targets and sometimes unearth players for scouting.

"There are occasions where it will cause them to re-examine a candidate who has been scouted, but senior figures at the club believe the data can remove doubts that they might otherwise have had or encourage them to sign a player from their rivals.

"Arsenal insist they take decisions primarily driven by scouting, and the human rather than numerical characteristics of a potential target. Ultimately all decisions are made by Arsene."

Smith, along with his brother Phil, owned England's first major sporting agency, having managed over 400 players at one time.