As well as having an eye for top young talent, long-time Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger knew when to get rid of a footballer at the peak of their value.
Countless players left Highbury or the Emirates Stadium for a big chunk of money, only to fail to deliver anything like the same consistency at their new home.
We’ve looked back at the 15 men to move for £15million or more during Wenger’s tenure, to see how they fared after leaving north London.
Olivier Giroud
Giroud was one of the last two players to leave Arsenal under Wenger’s watch, joining Chelsea for £18million on the same day that Mathieu Debuchy was sold to Saint-Etienne.
The Frenchman only scored four league goals in his final half-season with Arsenal, and didn’t hit the ground running at Chelsea, managing just five goals in his first half-season there.
He did play a part in Chelsea’s FA Cup win that season, however, and followed that up with a Europa League title – against Arsenal – in 2019 and a Champions League crown in 2021.
Fair to say he did alright for himself.
Alexis Sanchez
Just over a week before Giroud’s exit, Alexis moved to Manchester United in a swap deal with Henrikh Mkhitaryan, with both players valued in the region of £30million.
You don’t need to be reminded of how terribly things went for the Chilean, who scored just five goals in 45 United games and none in his last 12 outings.
Mhkitaryan didn’t do a great deal better, and both have moved to Serie A, where they’ve both tasted success – the Armenian winning the Conference League with Roma on loan and Alexis conquering Serie A and the Coppa Italia with Inter, albeit as a bit-part player.
Theo Walcott
The other big-money departure in Wenger’s final window, Walcott moved north to join Sam Allardyce at Everton for £20miillion.
A return of 10 goals in 77 league games for the Toffees didn’t leave Arsenal fans thinking the club made a mistake letting him go.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Oxlade-Chamberlain left on…
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