Ranking Players Sold for Money by Arsene Wenger That Arsenal Missed Most
Arsene Wenger has long had a reputation for selling players at the right time, but does he ever get it wrong?
In this piece, Bleacher Report looks at 12 major stars who Wenger opted to sell during his time with the club, ranking them according to how much the Gunners missed them.
It's worth noting that this piece focuses purely on players sold for a transfer fee—the likes of Robert Pires (free transfer) and Tony Adams (retired) are consequently excluded.
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12. Ian Wright
When Ian Wright left Arsenal for West Ham United in 1998, he had recently become the highest goalscorer in the club's history. Remarkably, though, the Gunners did not really miss him—not on the field anyway.
While the absence of the England international's colourful personality was keenly felt, the emergence of Nicolas Anelka meant Arsenal were arguably stronger after his departure.
Wright left the club as a double-winner—and he probably timed his exit as perfectly as he timed all those runs in behind defences down the years.
11. Marc Overmars
When Marc Overmars joined Barcelona in the summer of 2000, it was seemingly a huge blow to Arsenal.
The Dutchman had been instrumental in the Gunners' double of 1997/98, and he was key to the enthralling attacking style Wenger was developing at Highbury.
However, by the time he left, regular injury problems had begun to rear their ugly head. Crucially, Wenger also acted to replace Overmars.
Just a few weeks prior to his departure, he secured the £5 million signing of Pires from Marseille. For a fraction of the fee Arsenal received for Overmars, Wenger bought a player who would go on to surpass the Dutchman's achievements in an Arsenal shirt.
10. Emmanuel Adebayor
By the time Emmanuel Adebayor left Arsenal in 2009, he had become a fairly unpopular figure among his own fans. The perception was that, having starred in the Gunners' impressive campaign of 2007/08, the Togo forward had an inflated idea of his own ability and star power.
Nevertheless, his goalscoring ability was missed at Arsenal. The issue that was Wenger did not act swiftly to replace him like-for-like.
He was interested in target man Marouane Chamakh but chose to wait 12 months for the Moroccan's contract with Bordeaux to expire.
9. Nicolas Anelka
The myth goes that Arsenal never missed Nicolas Anelka after his record-breaking move to Real Madrid in 1999. The fee paid for the arrival of Thierry Henry and the construction of a new training ground, and the youngster was consigned to the past.
That's true in part, but Arsenal would still have been a stronger force had they managed to keep the electrifying Anelka on their books.
One can only imagine how good he might have been had be continued working under Wenger—potentially even in partnership with Henry.
8. Samir Nasri
When Samir Nasri left Arsenal for Manchester City in 2011, he left the Gunners in the lurch. This wasn't a sale Wenger wanted to sanction—with just a year left on his contract and the player determined to move, the Arsenal boss felt compelled to let him go.
He joined City in the final week of August, leaving little time to replace him. Ultimately, the closest thing Arsenal got to a substitute was Gervinho. This deal hurt the Gunners badly.
7. Lassana Diarra
It might seem strange to include a player in this list who only played for Arsenal for a matter of months. However, the decision to sell Lassana Diarra to Portsmouth in 2008 was one that came back to haunt Wenger.
After snatching Diarra from rivals Chelsea, Wenger felt unable to give the French midfielder the first-team football he craved. Just four months after joining the club, he was allowed to leave permanently in the January transfer window.
Within a year, Arsenal had an inadequate and dysfunctional midfield, and Diarra was signing for Real Madrid.
6. Gilberto Silva
The decision to sell Gilberto Silva to Panathinaikos was downright strange. It came at a time when Wenger seemed unwilling to offer even two- or three-year deals to players aged over 30, forcing many experienced squad members to look elsewhere for security.
However, Arsenal missed Gilberto dreadfully. Young midfielders such as Denilson, Alex Song and Abou Diaby would surely have benefited from having the reliable Brazilian around to learn from.
5. Thierry Henry
The threat of Henry's departure hung over Arsenal for a long time before he eventually upped sticks to Barcelona in 2007. When he did eventually go, it wasn't an exclusively bad thing—Adebayor and Robin van Persie flourished, and the team seemed liberated by the absence of their talisman.
However, the manner in which Arsenal fans greeted his second coming suggested they had missed him a good deal. The Gunners could cope without Henry the player—but they desperately missed Henry the icon.
4. Patrick Vieira
Some say the emergence of Cesc Fabregas meant Arsenal never really missed Patrick Vieira. However, it's surely more than mere coincidence that the team failed to win a trophy for nine years after the Frenchman's departure for Juventus in 2005.
Vieira was a colossus at Highbury, and it's a real shame he never represented Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. Their midfield might have found a way to function without him, but his five Serie A titles suggest he was far from finished when he left north London.
3. Ashley Cole
It was difficult to decide whether to include this one, as technically Ashley Cole joined Arsenal in a part-exchange rather than a straight sale. However, the Gunners did receive some money (on top of William Gallas), so he's made it into our list.
After joining Chelsea in 2006, Cole set about becoming the best left-back in Europe. Despite all the potential shown by Gael Clichy and later Kieran Gibbs, they never got close to the England international's level.
2. Robin van Persie
Selling Van Persie to Manchester United in 2012 was a pretty disastrous decision on Wenger's part. It effectively handed United the Premier League title and left Arsenal in a search for a top-class striker that is arguably still ongoing (Alexandre Lacazette is the latest hopeful to fill the void).
The one consolation is that the Dutchman only really produced his best for one season with United. Soon after the Red Devils' 2012-13 title triumph, injuries and age (and, Arsenal fans would doubtless argue, karma) began to catch up with him.
1. Cesc Fabregas
Many Arsenal fans still miss Cesc Fabregas. He might have been born in Barcelona, but to Gunners supporters, he felt like one of their own.
When he left the club in 2011 (shortly followed by Nasri), it plunged the club into a dark period from which they are arguably still fighting to emerge.
The fact that Fabregas has gone on to enjoy title success with Chelsea only makes the pangs all the more painful.
*All transfer fees via Transfermarkt.co.uk
James McNicholas is Bleacher Report's lead Arsenal correspondent and follows the club from a London base.
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