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Quick reads
Arsenal are regularly criticized for their deal in the transfer windows, but the Gunners have still made some excellent signings in the last 10 years.
Few would say that their overall business has not been good enough, but there is hope that things will start to change with Mikel Arteta as manager.
We’ve ranked Arsenal’s last 10 summer transfer windows from worst to best.
10. 2016-17
Getting Rob Holding out of Bolton for approximately £ 2 million proved to be a huge success.
But they weren’t quite as crafty elsewhere, with over £ 80 million spent bringing in Granit Xhaka, Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez. To put that in context, Liverpool spent roughly £ 50 million on Sadio Mane and Georginio Wijnaldum that summer, and that was without the promise of European football.
A symbol of how Arsenal have been overtaken by better operators in recent years. And that’s not to mention allowing Serge Gnabry to go to Werder Bremen for just £ 4.5 million.
READ: An Xl of Arsenal’s academy graduates who continue to play elsewhere: Gnabry, Malen….
9. 2015-16
A quiet window, with Petr Cech as the only arrival. He never replicated his Chelsea best form at Emirates Stadium, and in the end the feeling was that his replacement for Bernd Leno was overdue.
It was so serene in terms of spending, with £ 2 million from Galatasaray to Podolski as the only funds recovered, but there was also the now infamous decision to send Gnabry to Tony Pulis’ West Brom on loan.
Arsenal finished second that season, their best position in the league since 2005. An established strategy might have worked well for them, but it’s also worth asking: could they have toppled Leicester that year if they had just pushed the boat a bit? more in the transfer market?
8. 2017-18
Another summer and another transfer record broken, but Alexandre Lacazette has failed to match his one-to-two ratio (100 goals in 203 Ligue appearances) at Arsenal.
He has scored a respectable 51 goals in 131 games for the Gunners, often playing wide open, but is open to opinion as to whether he has been worth £ 52.7 million.
Then there’s Sead Kolasinac (free), Oxlade-Chamberlain (to Liverpool for £ 34 million) and Wojciech Szczesny (to Juventus for £ 12 million). Controversial decisions.
7. 2018-19
The post-Wenger era began with an interesting variety of signings.
Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi were once considered the future of Arsenal’s midfield, but now both are on loan, although the latter still has time to establish himself.
Bernd Leno has proven to be an excellent Premier League goalkeeper, while Stephan Lichtsteiner did not work out, but without any damage with a free transfer on a one-year contract. After two full seasons, there are questions about the £ 17 million payment to Borussia Dortmund for Sokratis Papastathopoulos.
Once again the club struggled to recoup funds, but ditching players like Joel Campbell, Jack Wilshere, Pérez and Cazorla, either at the end of their contracts or sold for minimal fees, was a necessity.
6. 2019-20
The club record of £ 72 million paid by Lille striker Nicolas Pepe was deemed so exorbitant that football boss Raúl Sanllehi reportedly paid it off with his work after an “internal review”.
But the more time passes, the more it seems that Pepe could justify the fee. Also, selling Alex Iwobi for £ 27m to Everton was something of a masterstroke, while Gabriel Martinelli looks like one of the biggest signings in recent years for just £ 6m from Brazilian Ituano.
We haven’t seen him yet, but there is hope that William Saliba, insured for £ 27 million before being loaned to Saint-Etienne, will prove to be an excellent player. David Luiz and Kieran Tierney have also proven to be useful acquisitions, especially with Arteta.
5. 2014-15
As with Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sánchez’s legacy at Arsenal may have been affected by his last days there, but his arrival and early impact were equally important. There is a strong argument that the Chilean enjoyed the best form of his club career at The Emirates, scoring 80 goals in 166 appearances for the Gunners.
Getting £ 17m from Barcelona for Thomas Vermaelen should also be seen as a major advantage, but on the other hand, the nearly £ 50m spent at Calum Chambers, Danny Welbeck and Mathieu Debuchy did not turn out to be a wise use of funds.
LEE: The 15 best Arsenal signings of the 2010s: Sánchez, Cazorla, Ozil …
4. 2021-21
It’s too early to put this year’s business higher, we’ve been here before, but it looks like Arsenal have made a truly transformative signing in the form of Thomas Partey. It’s exactly what they need in midfield and it comes at a good price.
There have also been some very encouraging early signs from Gabriel Magalhaes, even at a not inconsiderable £ 27 million worth, while Willian Free is another smart signing, although the 32-year-old was right to land a three-year deal.
In terms of expenses, Emiliano Martinez produced excellent performances for Arsenal over the summer, but getting £ 15m for his substitute goalkeeper cannot be argued as a business decision. Only time will tell if the £ 1.8m Alex Runarsson is a good substitute.
3. 2011-12
After years of consistent top-four results and title challenges under Arsene Wenger, the 2011-12 season was shaping up to be an absolute disaster.
The new Manchester City had started parking their tanks on the Gunners’ turf by taking away Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy, while Cesc Fabregas finally completed his long-awaited move to Barcelona. To top it off, they started the season with one point from the first three games and suffered a humiliating 8-2 loss to Manchester United.
But through thick and thin, they managed to save something at the end of the transfer window. Arteta, a £ 10 million signing from Everton, provided plenty of leadership and cunning in midfield, while Per Mertesacker (£ 8 million from Werder Bremen) would make arguably the Gunners’ best central defensive pair of the last 15 years alongside Laurent Koscielny.
His eventual third place seemed impossible in August, but he was pulled from the bag on the closing day.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (£ 12m from Southampton) turned out to be another canny signing, but the less said the better on André Santos and Chu-Young Park.
In fact, we have something else to say about Andre Santos …
READ: I visited Andre Santos’s restaurant and it is exactly as bad as you would expect
2. 2012-13
This was the window in which Arsenal sold Robin van Persie, their distance standout player, to Manchester United for £ 22.5 million. For many, an unforgivable decision, especially considering how important he proved in securing Sir Alex Ferguson’s last Premier League title with the club.
But the future beloved cult hero Santi Cazorla arrived, in addition to Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud. Only for Cazorla, this window is up on the list.
LEE: A tribute to Santi Cazorla, teacher not of one, nor of two, but of three roles at Arsenal
1. 2013-14
After a few years of inactivity in terms of signings and few new names to really get excited about, the 2013 Real Madrid signing of Mesut Ozil was a real game changer. A true signature of declarations.
The German international had recorded a mind-blowing 47 assists in just three seasons at Real Madrid and had played a major role in their brilliant 2012 La Liga title, in which a brilliant team with José Mourinho achieved a record 100 points, scoring 121 goals. . It’s easy to forget what a blow it was to get it.
Since then, things have turned sour at Arsenal, but few will forget how inspired he was in those early years in North London, especially the 19 assists and six goals he recorded in a phenomenal 2015-16 singles campaign.
There was little more to shout about that summer, with Mathieu Flamini returning for free, small fees paid by Yaya Sanogo and Semi Ajayi, with Gervinho, Marouane Chamakh and Emmanuel Frimpong outside the starting gate.
But Ozil alone, even for a club record of £ 43 million, made that summer unforgettable for Arsenal.
More Arsenal
The 13 players that Arsenal have signed on the deadline and how it went
Can you name every £ 10m player signed by Arsene Wenger at Arsenal?
Thomas Partey, below: how Arsenal’s 16 signings have fared since La Liga
Arsenal’s last 10 signings before Stan Kroenke, and how they fared
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