Arsenal's Biggest Transfer Steals of the Past 10 Years
Arsene Wenger is currently facing more criticism than he has at any other stage of his Arsenal career. One of the issues is that the club does not seem to be extracting value from their transfer spend anymore—neither Granit Xhaka nor Shkodran Mustafi has lived up to their price tag this season.
However, Wenger does have an impressive track record of unearthing top talent relatively cheaply. Many of those were towards the beginning of his reign—the likes of Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry will go down among the Premier League's best signings.
In this piece, we look at the best deals from the second half of Wenger's reign, ranking them according to how much of a bargain they proved to be. As Arsenal tend not to disclose what they've spent on a player, all transfer fees are sourced via Transfermarkt.
10. Joel Campbell: £850k
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This might seem like a strange pick, especially as the Costa Rica international is currently stationed on loan with Sporting Lisbon. However, the reality is that should Arsenal eventually decide to sell Joel Campbell permanently, they stand to make a huge profit.
This is one of Arsenal's scouting success stories—the Gunners plucked the forward from Costa Rican football and saw him blossom into an international star. During the 2015/16 campaign, he actually proved himself an effective performer in the Premier League and was arguably unlucky to be forced out by competition the following summer.
Campbell's Arsenal career has been written off in the past, and he's managed to fight back to prove his doubters wrong. Few would put it past him to do so again.
9. David Ospina: £3.4 Million
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£3.4 million doesn't get you much in the transfer market these days. However, in David Ospina, Arsenal managed to acquire a goalkeeper of international quality who has largely served them well since his arrival in 2014.
Ospina has never quite secured the No. 1 shirt for himself, flirting with the position in 2015 before ultimately being replaced by Petr Cech. However, he has retained Wenger's faith, regularly starting in domestic cup games and the Champions League.
When you look at the fees paid for the likes of Claudio Bravo at Manchester City, it becomes clear that Ospina represented a bargain.
8. Mikel Arteta: £10.2 Million
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It's difficult to overstate what an important signing Mikel Arteta was for Arsenal in 2011. The Gunners had lost Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas in the same summer and needed an experienced player to stabilise their midfield.
Arteta did that and more. He was a veteran of British football by that stage and brought a natural authority both on and off the pitch. He adapted his playing style to suit Arsenal's needs and emerged as one of the team's key leaders. Before long, he was appointed as the official club captain.
The latter years of his Arsenal career were dogged by injury, but it should not be forgotten what a crucial role he played in helping the Gunners get over that traumatic summer.
7. Rob Holding: £2.55 Million
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It's early days, but right now Rob Holding looks like an absolute steal. Wenger has long insisted there is talent to be found in England's lower divisions, and snapping up Holding after his relegation to League One with Bolton Wanderers appears to be an astute move.
It's rare to see a player take to top-flight football quite so easily. Holding is not the quickest and still needs to fill out, yet he seems to have a preternatural calmness both with and without the ball. His positional instincts are excellent, and he's a decent footballer, too, happy to bring the ball out from the back and instigate passing moves.
Good centre-halves are at a premium these days—and Arsenal look to have uncovered one here.
6. Aaron Ramsey: £5.44 Million
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Aaron Ramsey may still frustrate Arsenal fans regularly with his inconsistency, but that doesn't take away from the fact that he was an absolute bargain.
Wenger's most frequently successful transfer strategy is to identify young talent before they've reached their full potential. In the case of Ramsey, he was brought in after impressing as a teenager at Cardiff City.
His development has not been perfect—injuries have been a big issue, and he has not necessarily nailed down a regular position in the first team. However, were he ever to be sold, he would turn an enormous profit. That tells you that the Welshman was a wise investment.
5. Alexis Sanchez: £36.13 Million
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The fact that Alexis Sanchez is included in this list, in spite of his enormous price tag, is an indicator of just what a successful signing he's been for Arsenal.
The club's record signing is Mesut Ozil, but there's genuine debate about the value of that deal. Alexis' contribution can't be questioned. In the modern era of inflated transfer fees, they paid a fair price for a genuinely world-class talent.
4. Olivier Giroud: £10.2 Million
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Olivier Giroud is a divisive figure among the Arsenal fans, but it's difficult to argue about his contribution given the paltry fee Wenger paid for his services. He was hardly a household name when he arrived from Montpellier but has transformed into an international-calibre striker and reliable target man.
Giroud has now scored 95 goals for Arsenal in 222 appearances, many of which have come from the bench. He may have his flaws, but there have been few more successful Premier League strikers in that £10 million bracket.
3. Laurent Koscielny: £10.63 Million
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Who had heard of Laurent Koscielny before Wenger bought him from Lorient in 2010? The centre-half had played the majority of his football in the second tier of French football, but Wenger was undeterred.
After a shaky start, Koscielny has slowly matured into one of Europe's finest centre-backs. He is a mainstay of the France international side, and at times it feels as if he's the glue just about holding Arsenal's defence together. Gunners fans must dread to think where they would be without him.
2. Santi Cazorla: £16.15 Million
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Wenger has bought three genuinely world-class outfield players for Arsenal in the past decade. Alexis and Ozil both had transfer fees that reflected their status. However, thanks to the financial difficulties at Malaga, the Gunners were able to secure Santi Cazorla for a fraction of the price.
Cazorla is a magician. There are few more entertaining players to watch on Arsenal's books, and their midfield only seems to function when he's installed at its hub.
1. Bacary Sagna: £7.65 Million
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What a signing Bacary Sagna was for Arsenal. He joined the club from Auxerre, spending seven years with the club in which he was remarkably consistent.
It's unfortunate that Sagna's time with the Gunners only included one major trophy win: the FA Cup triumph in his final game. That was through no fault of his own—his performances at right-back were generally outstanding.
When Arsenal signed Sagna, a few eyebrows were raised. However, by the end of his stint with the club, the fans were desperate for him to stay.
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