How Arsenal are avoiding potential bans despite heavy spending on Havertz, Rice

Arsenal have been a team on a mission this transfer window as they seek to close the gap between them and Manchester City.

Mikel Arteta's charges pushed for the Premier League title last season but had to be content with a second-place finish and a return to the UEFA Champions League for the first time in seven years.

To address the differences between them and Pep Guardiola's superteam, the Gunners have signed Kai Havertz from Chelsea, alongside deals for Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber.

This is the third consecutive summer in which Arsenal strayed from a modest approach to transfer windows and splashed money on targets.

2021 saw the arrival of Martin Odegaard, Ben White, and Aaron Ramsdale, before Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko followed a year later, as captured by Transfermarkt.

This summer, the amount spent on new players is set to eclipse their previous windows, with Rice alone costing at least €105 million.

So, how is the North London side doing its business to ensure adherence to the Financial Fair Play rules, per SkySports?

For starters, Arsenal's major advantage is their second-place finish and qualification to the UCL. That alone is set to attract at least €30mil without kicking a ball, while a higher-placed finish in the EPL means more revenue.

The other thing that will play in the Gunners' favour is a term Chelsea's new owners are fond of - amortisation. The full amount used to buy a player won't be reflected in the same financial year.

For example, the €65mil fee paid to Chelsea for Havertz can be spread across multiple years depending on the number of years in his contract.