I don’t think that it are the wages. Pellegrini doesn’t earn much, on to his 6th loan now. McKennie and Zakaria aswel. Arthur we tend to think that it’s high but if I remember correctly it just 5m or so.
it is the wages (plus the book values in some cases). as i've been parroting for years, the majority of our players are having the best contracts of their lives
at one point, with ronaldo still in the squad, jj had the 3rd highest wage bill in football. even dybala, one of the most sought after players we got rid of in recent years, could only get himself a contract worth like 2/3 of his salary at jj - and he left on a bosman
5m for a hack like arthur is insanity. players like tek, bonbon, sandro, rugani (etc, and it's just the defense) couldn't get nearly as much as at jj. same goes for a freebie like rabiot, we paid more than epl clubs lol
tici was a criminal, no two ways about it