Arsenal fans have been less than happy with how Stan Kroenke has backed the club in the transfer market over the years – but how did they fare in the years just before the American’s arrival?
Kroenke hasn’t quite matched the spending of the Gunners’ Premier League rivals since he became majority shareholder, and with Arsenal slipping out of the Champions League in that period, fans are in no doubt about who is to blame.
We’ve looked at the last 10 signings Arsenal made before Kroenke took over to see how they fared at the club.
Jens Lehmann
Lehmann came out of retirement to return to Arsenal for a second spell at the age of 41 during an injury crisis in March 2011.
The goalkeeper made just one more appearance for the club before hanging up his boots for a second time at the end of the season.
READ: An ode to Jens Lehmann: The maddest of the maverick keepers
Ryo Miyaichi
Miyaichi joined Arsenal in January 2011 following a successful trial, but he was initially denied a work permit to play in the Premier League.
Despite being dubbed “Ryodinho” during a successful loan spell at Feyenoord, he made just seven appearances for Arsenal in all competitions.
After further loan spells at Bolton, Wigan and Twente, the Japan international joined German side St Pauli on a permanent deal in 2015 and finally enjoyed some career highs.
READ: The seven stages of Ryo Miyaichi’s career: ‘Ryodinho’ to comeback kid
Sebastien Squillaci
Squillaci joined the Gunners from Sevilla in 2010 with a good reputation, but a series of horrendous errors saw him become a much-maligned figure in north London, and he was released in 2013.
‘There were a lot of expectations, but it’s always been tough for the centre-backs at Arsenal – you can see that before I joined and after I left,” Squillaci told beIN Sports in 2016.
“Arsenal conceded goals and they’ll always concede goals. It’s because of the club’s philosophy. I spoke to Wenger about it and he said “I know it’s hard, but that’s the way it is, I want to play like this, I want my forwards to have freedom, not to have too much defending to do.”
“It was very open, and we often found ourselves one-on-one with the attacker.”
Laurent Koscielny
The major success story from this list, Koscielny was relatively unknown when he moved to north London from Lorient in the summer of 2010.
He became a mainstay of their defence over the next nine years, making 353 appearances in all…
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