10 Players Arsenal Should Not Have Let Go in the Premier League Era
Knowing when to sell a player is tricky. Manager Arsene Wenger has a famously good sense of the optimum time to let a player go. His Arsenal teams are in a constant process of evolution, with older players being shipped off and new talent allowed to blossom.
However, even he gets it wrong on occasion. During the course of his near-20-year reign, there have been a number of players whom he should have kept on at the club.
In this piece, we identify 10 players Arsenal should not have let go since the Premier League began in 1992. They're ranked according to how much their loss hurt the Gunners, both on the pitch and in the stands. Crucially, we factor in what they might have achieved at Arsenal had they remained at the club.
Go to the next slide to begin the countdown.
10. Kolo Toure
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This name may surprise a few readers, but Arsenal’s decision to sell Kolo Toure to Manchester City was probably somewhat premature.
When Arsenal let Toure go in 2009, they effectively chose to keep William Gallas instead. In hindsight, that may have been the wrong decision; Gallas never performed to his full potential in an Arsenal shirt.
Toure was a tremendous character and a great example to the younger players. Had he remained in north London, he would surely have developed into one of the squad’s leaders. What’s more, he remains a versatile player who could have offered defensive cover in a variety of positions.
9. Anders Limpar
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Swedish winger Anders Limpar was one of the most exciting players in Arsenal’s early Premier League sides. In a team which was not renowned for flair, he brought speed, skill and imagination.
He brought success too. In his first season with the club, he won the league. In his third, Arsenal won an unprecedented cup double. His fourth campaign brought European success in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.
However, two months earlier, in March 1994, he was unceremoniously sold to Everton. Arguably, Arsenal fans had to wait until the arrival of Marc Overmars in 1997 to enjoy watching a comparable player again.
8. Lassana Diarra
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Had Arsenal kept hold of Lassana Diarra, their midfield might have been much more secure over the past nine years.
Diarra was signed from Chelsea in the summer of 2007 but stayed with Arsenal for a matter of months before growing frustrated at a lack of first-team opportunities. He left the club in January 2008, joining Portsmouth and embarking on a successful career that has taken in spells with Real Madrid, Olympique de Marseille and 33 caps for France.
At the time Diarra left Arsenal, he was behind both Gilberto Silva and Mathieu Flamini in Arsene Wenger’s pecking order. However, by the summer of 2008, both those players had gone. Had he stuck it out at the Emirates Stadium a little longer, he may well have become a stalwart of the side.
7. Gilberto Silva
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The end of Gilberto Silva’s Arsenal career was a strange one. Having been an integral part of their Invincibles team of 2003/04, he slowly began to fall out of favour with Arsene Wenger, culminating in his move to Panathinaikos in 2008.
Arsenal let him move in the same year as Diarra and Flamini, leaving them with a gaping void in the midfield the likes of Denilson proved incapable of filling.
6. Robin van Persie
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Selling Robin van Persie in 2012 made sense from a financial perspective. He was 29 with just under a year remaining on his contract and a history of serious injury problems.
However, the decision to allow him to join a rival was the real problem. Van Persie moved to Manchester United and was outstanding in his debut campaign, helping Sir Alex Ferguson’s men to the title.
Van Persie may not have had many more great seasons left in the tank, but preventing him from moving to Old Trafford may well have denied United that league triumph.
5. Robert Pires
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The fact Robert Pires still regularly trains with the Arsenal squad suggests Arsene Wenger has considerable regrets about allowing him to leave back in 2006.
Although Pires was fading as a physical force, he remained an outstanding technical player. In the years following his move from the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal badly lacked the leadership and experience Pires could have provided.
His final appearance for the club, the 2006 Champions League final against Barcelona, was interrupted by an early substitution, which made his subsequent departure all the more sad.
4. Cesc Fabregas
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It seemed inevitable Arsenal would one day lose Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona, the club with whom he began his career as a teenager.
However, it happened far sooner than anyone anticipated. Arsenal had hoped they might enjoy Fabregas throughout the peak of his career before allowing him to return to his hometown club later. Instead, he moved back to the Camp Nou in 2011, aged just 24.
The fact it didn’t work out for him at Barca makes that fact all the more galling. Fabregas is back in London, playing for rivals Chelsea—much to the chagrin of the Arsenal support.
3. Patrick Vieira
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After Cesc Fabregas' departure, the centre of Arsenal’s midfield enjoyed a relatively smooth transition.
However, after Patrick Vieira’s final kick for the club enabled them to claim the 2005 FA Cup, they did not win another trophy for nine years. There are plenty of other contributing factors in that failure, but the absence of their great leader certainly didn’t help.
The fact that Vieira returned to England to continue his playing and coaching career with Manchester City is another sore point among Arsenal fans.
2. Thierry Henry
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Losing the greatest goalscorer in your club’s history is never a great idea. It’s a lingering regret of Arsenal fans that Thierry Henry did not see out his career in a Gunners shirt. Henry was more than just an Arsenal player—he was an icon.
When Henry left Arsenal, he was far from finished. He joined Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi in the most feared attacking force in world football at Barcelona in 2007, scoring 45 goals in his first two seasons at the Camp Nou.
Although he did briefly return to Arsenal on loan from MLS side New York Red Bulls in 2012, that was all too fleeting to satisfy Arsenal supporters.
1. Ashley Cole
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It may be difficult to admit, but there have not been many departures that have stung more than Ashley Cole’s defection to London rivals Chelsea.
Although there are understandable questions over his character, there have never been any doubts as to his quality. Cole may be the greatest English left-back of all time—and Arsenal sold him to the Stamford Bridge outfit in 2006.
Of course, the Gunners hierarchy would argue that Cole forced his departure upon the club. That may be. However, the glittering career he’s since enjoyed suggests Arsenal should have fought harder to keep hold of their academy product.
The fact they got Gallas in exchange merely rubs salt into the wound.
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