David Showell


When Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure headed north for sky blue pastures new in the summer, many were questioning the wisdom of selling two established members of the Arsenal set-up. Adebayor has been a regular goalscorer for the Gunners, and Toure was the last regular member of ‘The Invincibles’ at the club. But the hole left behind by the departure of these stalwarts will be filled by new arrival Thomas Vermaelen and the re-emergence of a fit-again Eduardo. Of course, there’s also the small matter of a £40M windfall brought by the sales. Yet again these moves show just what a clever operator Arsene Wenger remains in the transfer market: A talent he has never lost.

Toure signed for the London club in 2002 from ASEC Mimosas for the princely sum of £150,000. Subsequently, he proved to be a superb purchase, having played 225 games for Arsenal and becoming one of the Premier League’s most reliable defenders in the process. Manchester City paid somewhere in the region of £15M for his services.

Emmanuel Adebayor joined Arsenal in 2006 for a reported fee of £4M. 46 goals later, and the former Monaco hit-man left for around six times that value. If he keeps finding the net, it will prove to be a good deal for City, but either way it has proved yet another shrewd bit of business by Mr Wenger.

Nicolas Anelka burst onto the English football scene in the 1997/98 season, helping Arsenal to a double at the tender age of 19. He opened his account with a spectacular goal in a vital 3-2 defeat of Manchester United, and ended the season with an excellent FA Cup final strike against Newcastle United. He had cost the Gunners £500,000 and ended up leaving for Real Madrid for more than £22M.

Speedy Dutch winger Marc Overmars came to Highbury is 1997, and in the double year he also scored in the FA Cup final. He weighed in with several important performances, and scored at Old Trafford and twice in the home game against Everton to secure the league title. In 2000, Overmars moved on to Barcelona for a very handy £25M, making him the most expensive Dutch footballer of all time.

Emmanuel Petit played for Wenger at Monaco, and re-joined him at Arsenal in 1997 to team up in midfield with Patrick Vieira. At times they seemed unstoppable, and complimented each other’s style perfectly. The two Frenchmen sometimes took it in turns to venture forward, and they always knew the other would be covering. It was a winning formula. Petit had signed for £2.5M in 1997, and moved on to Barcelona for £7M in 2000. The Frenchman never really recreated the form he’d shown at Highbury, partly thanks to some niggling injuries, and yet again it was Wenger who’d got the best years out of him.

Not all players who came and went made money for the club, but most of them seemed to show their best form in north London before moving on. Thierry Henry, of course, went on to become the club’s all-time leading scorer and a player of true world greatness. A bit-part player at Juventus, he became a legend at Arsenal. Though he still finds the net for Barcelona, his ‘va-va’ hasn’t voomed as much as it did in England.

Robert Pires played 189 games for Arsenal, and managed to master the art of running games without appearing to do a great deal. He was a huge influence on the side for several years, and perhaps that influence has only really been apparent since his departure. Following his move to Villarreal ‘Super-Bob’ has struggled with injuries, although the silky skills are still there.

Patrick Vieira became one of Arsenal’s greatest players, and captained the side to many successes. His tigerish tackling and spiky style made him perfect for the English game. In a glittering spell, he played 279 games for the Gunners and became one of the Premier League’s best-ever midfielders. When he joined Arsenal, he cost the club a mere £3.5M. After nine trophy-grabbing seasons he left for Inter Milan for a fee of £18M. When taking into account that his best years were over and done with, it was another remarkable transaction.

At some point, Arsenal’s current midfield general, Cesc Fabregas, may well leave the club for a fresh challenge in Spain or Italy. When that day comes, the club will no doubt enjoy a payday that will dwarf all previous ones. And he cost Arsenal absolutely nothing.

Of course, not all of Wenger’s purchases have been successful; for every Rolls Royce there’s been the occasional Fiat Punto. Francis Jeffers, Richard Wright, Aleksander Hleb and Sylvain Wiltord all ultimately proved a little short of the mark. But Wenger’s overall judgement can’t be ignored. The board at the Emirates Stadium must lick their lips every time the boss says “I’ve found this player….”.

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