After inheriting an underperforming Arsenal team, Mikel Arteta has displayed his ruthless streak by selling first-team players.
The Arsenal squad was in need of an overhaul when Arteta replaced Unai Emery in December 2019, and he hasn’t been afraid to get rid of some big names.
Alexandre Lacazette, Matteo Guendouzi and Konstantinos Mavropanos are the latest batch of players to depart the Emirates during the 40-year-old manager’s reign in charge of the Gunners and they follow in the footsteps of some pretty important players.
We’ve taken a look at the 12 first-teamers (so not including the likes of Dejan Iliev) to leave Arsenal on a permanent basis since Arteta took over to see how they have subsequently fared.
Emiliano Martinez
Martinez spent a decade at the Emirates Stadium but only got his first extended run in the Arsenal team towards the end of 2019-20, excelling in their FA Cup run.
After Bernd Leno returned from injury, the Argentina international was not given reassurances that he would remain their first-choice goalkeeper and joined Aston Villa in a £17million deal in 2020.
“I told him [Mikel Arteta] I wanted to play week in, week out and he couldn’t guarantee who was going to start,” Martinez said in November 2020.
“Even before the Community Shield, he didn’t know who was going to play in goal. I just wanted to play first-team football and Arsenal could not guarantee me that.”
He was a revelation during his debut season at Aston Villa. Only Edouard Mendy and Ederson kept more clean sheets in the Premier League in 2020-21 and he continues to look dependable between the sticks under Steven Gerrard.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan
Mkhitaryan never played under Arteta and was allowed to join Roma on a permanent deal after a successful loan spell with the Serie A side.
The Armenia international revived his career following a difficult time in England, registering 22 goals and 15 assists in the Italian top-flight during his first season and a half at Roma.
He hasn’t been quite so prolific following the appointment of Jose Mourinho – five goals and nine assists in 44 appearances last term – but remains an important first-team regular, and ended the campaign by lifting the Europa Conference League Trophy
The first Serie A goal of the Jose Mourinho era at Roma is scored by… Henrikh Mkhitaryan 👊
Tammy Abraham with a clever assist, VAR took a close look but the goal stands! pic.twitter.com/gFzyBiKbsm
— Football on BT…
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