Alexander Hleb told us that leaving Arsenal was the biggest regret of his career, but a number of players have gone on to prove the Gunners wrong after leaving the club.
Given Arsenal’s preference over the years to develop young talent, it should come as no surprise that a few went on to impress at different outfits.
We’ve taken a closer look at nine players who hardly set the world alight at Arsenal before proving their quality elsewhere.
Serge Gnabry
The writing was probably on the wall for Gnabry in England when he was loaned to West Brom and afforded all of 12 Premier League minutes in 2015-16.
Fast forward six years and he is one of the first names on the standout players for both Bayern Munich and Germany and has 20 goals in 34 international caps. Not bad for a player sold to Werder Bremen for £5million.
With his contract currently up for renewal in Bavaria, there is some talk of Arsenal taking him back to north London. They’d surely be happy to have him.
“To be told when you’re 18, 19 years of age that you’re not good enough for a team at the bottom of the Premier League, and to come back and have the mental strength to do what he did is amazing,” Dietmar Hamann told RTE after Gnabry banged in two goals against Chelsea in the Champions League in 2020 to add to the four he managed against Spurs earlier that season.
“He’s a great example for any kid, no matter what age you are, to never give up, keep believing in yourself.
“He’s one of the top three, top five wingers in the world after being told he’s been told five or six years ago he’s not good enough for a mediocre Premier League football team.
Not good enough to play for West Brom though🙄🙄 Congrats my bro I always knew you were the best 🌟@SergeGnabry https://t.co/dTYrcPjRay
— Héctor Bellerín (@HectorBellerin) June 22, 2019
Ismael Bennacer
Arsenal fans can be excused for not recognising Bennacer’s name given the midfielder made one appearance for the club in a 3-0 League Cup defeat at Sheffield Wednesday.
The Gunners probably didn’t lose any sleep when the Algeria international, who represented France at youth level, joined Serie B outfit Empoli in 2017.
Yet Bennacer helped Empoli to promotion and impressed enough in Serie A despite their relegation to earn a €16million move to AC Milan, where he won the Scudetto in 2022.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst
Van Bronckhorst certainly didn’t embarrass himself at Arsenal, but 22 Premier League starts…
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