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Everton are now ahead of both Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur when it comes to the number of high-priced players recruited but does such a statistic actually suggest a shift in spending power?

“Twenty’s Plenty” remains the mantra of The Football Supporters Federation when it comes to ticket prices for away fans but such is the amount of money awash at the top end of the Premier League, a £20million plus price tag has now become the going rate for most decent players.

Some seven years after their inaugural eight-figure signing (Aiyegbeni Yakubu, £11.25million from Middlesbrough in 2007), the Blues first broke the £20million barrier back in 2014 with the £28million purchase of Chelsea’s Romelu Lukaku which smashed the amount for their previous club record buy, the £15million they paid Standard Liege for fellow Belgian Marouane Fellaini in 2008.

Since then, a combination of transfer fee inflation due to lucrative television deals and the deep pockets of Everton’s new majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri have ensured that transfer packages for Jordan Pickford, Michael Keane and even the currently injured Yannick Bolasie could all eventually eclipse that figure while the amount paid to Swansea City for Gylfi Sigurdsson already doubles the £20million amount and could reach £45million.

The Blues have now made seven £20million+ purchases and all but Lukaku have come under Moshiri’s watch with Morgan Schneiderlin and Davy Klaassen also within the bracket.

As football365.com pointed out, such a figure puts Everton ahead of both north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal who have shelled out comparable fees just six and five times respectively.

(Image: IAN KINGTON/AFP/Getty Images)

Roberto Soldado became Spurs’ first £20million + player when he arrived at White Hart Lane from Valencia for £26million in 2013 and since then they’ve snapped up Erik Lamela, Heung-min Son, Moussa Sissoko (who of course was a Ronald Koeman target for Everton), Serge Aurier and Davinson Sanchez with the latter’s £37million price tag making him their current record signing but still short of the amount the Blues parted with for Icelandic ace Sigurdsson.

In contrast, Arsenal are still ahead of Everton – just – when it comes to an individual fee following Alexandre Lacazette’s £47million move from Lyon in the summer but curiously the Gunners have never bought a single player in the £20-29million price bracket.

Arsene Wenger’s seeming reluctance to buy his way out of trouble, much to the frustration of many a patron of the Emirates Stadium is seemingly backed up by the fact that despite spending two consecutive decades in the Champions League – Everton of course have just a solitary play-off round to show in Europe’s elite club competition during this period – Arsenal have only ever purchased five £20million+ players in their history.

Perhaps it’s telling that other than the aforementioned Lacazette, the other quartet are all in the lucrative £30million+ category – Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez, Granit Xhaka and the man David Moyes allowed to leave Goodison for nothing, Germany World Cup winner Shkodran Mustafi.

However, considering that Mr Moshiri sold his shares with Arsenal to invest at Everton, Gunners fans could be forgiven for being miffed by the Blues recent spending spree under the stewardship of their former stakeholder.

It could be argued of course that Everton are having to play catch-up, with the bulk of their spending coming over the past 18 months and that if they are to make the great leap to dislodge one of the division’s established elite then they need to splash the cash.

Arsenal are only just getting to grips with life outside the Champions League but with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain having already departed and major question marks remaining over contract rebels Sanchez and Ozil, the chequebook might be coming out a few times in the coming months in the search for fresh blood.

It must be noted that at a time when the world record fee is now Neymar’s £200million switch from Barcelona to Paris St Germain, a £20million price tag is a mere 10% of such a total compared to the era between 2001-09 when it would represent just under half of the then world record £45million that Real Madrid had paid Juventus for Zinedine Zidane.

(Image: ALAIN JOCARD/AFP/Getty Images)

While it remains a huge fortune to the rest of us, are such figures still big money in relative terms considering that Bournemouth became the latest team to join the £20million club this summer?

For the remainder of the teams battling for Champions League places in recent years, snapping up £20million+ players has been regular business for a significant period of time.

Since purchasing Fernando Torres from Atletico Madrid for £26.5million a decade ago, neighbours Liverpool have crossed the £20million threshold on a further 14 occasions but the outlay is not always a guarantee of quality with the likes of Alberto Aquilani and Lazar Markovic proving to be high-priced flops.

Manchester United, who splurged £28million on Juan Sebastian Veron way back in 2001 have made 21 £20million + acquisitions – three of which came from Everton – Wayne Rooney, Marouane Fellaini and Lukaku.

(Image: Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Chelsea, the 21st century Premier League’s original big spenders have broken the £20million mark on 24 occasions since they bought Didier Drogba for £24million in 2004 but unsurprisingly it’s Abu Dhabi United Group-backed Manchester City who lead the way with no fewer than 28 £20million plus buys since their initial £32.5million statement of intent on Robinho back in 2008.

With a net spend of over £138million this summer (Everton’s figure was £54.2million), City continue to set the benchmark for financial muscle.

Recent results between the sides have shown that the Blues’ imaginative recruitment policy can narrow the gap in individual encounters but while the uneven playing field may no longer be akin to “taking a knife into a gunfight” that Moyes described, there’s still a gaping chasm in resources that somehow has to be breached.