Arsenal’s 10 most expensive sales and how they fared after leaving

At times over the past two decades, some Arsenal players have felt they have had to leave in order to find bigger and better success elsewhere.

Sometimes it worked out for them, like Robin van Persie who won the Premier League with Manchester United, while other times it goes disastrously wrong as it did with Alexis Sanchez who made the same switch.

They will now be hoping that the club will no longer have to begrudgingly sell players with the Champions League places firmly in the crosshairs of Mikel Arteta’s young side.

But some of the club’s dealings over the years still leave visible scars on the fanbase.

Using data from transfermarkt, we’ve looked at the 10 most expensive sales Arsenal have made in the Premier League era and how those players fared after leaving.

Samir Nasri, £24.8million

This one is still a tough one for Arsenal fans to take.

Nasri left for Manchester City after three seasons in North London, scoring 15 goals in all competitions in his final Arsenal campaign in 2010-11.

Despite being a key member of the squad, he opted to leave the Gunners for City and said that trophies were a motivating factor.

While he helped City to their first Premier League title in 2011-12 and won another in 2013-14, his importance to the first team waned and his career stagnated.

Unexceptional and brief stints with Sevilla, Antalyaspor, West Ham and Anderlecht (with a doping ban in the mix as well) brought his career to a close.

Emmanuel Adebayor, £26.1million

There is an argument to suggest THAT celebration is the greatest ever. It probably is.

But there was more than just Adebayor’s huge capacity for shithousery that caused City to spend so much money on him in the summer of 2009.

He had scored 46 goals in his final two seasons at Arsenal and made a dream start to his City career, netting in all of his first four league games for the club.

The striker finished the 2009-10 campaign with 14 goals but the arrival of Roberto Mancini saw him fall down the pecking order, and he was loaned out to Real Madrid and Spurs.

Adebayor later joined the latter on a permanent deal and also had stints at Crystal Palace, Istanbul Basaksehir, Kayserispor and Olimpia.

Marc Overmars, £26.4million

Have you forgotten just how good Overmars was?

Technically brilliant and as quick as a flash, the winger wowed Highbury for three seasons and was a vital part of the club’s success in…