Arsenal's squad turnover since Mikel Arteta arrived in December 2019 has been nothing short of staggering. In the space of five years he has transformed the starting XI and club. On the field matters have only improved.
It was far from straightforward. More than £550million has been spent on new players with almost all traces of Arsene Wenger and Unai Emery totally wiped out. Arsenal's banter era may well have continued under Arteta for a brief period but the current form is nothing to laugh at.
Arsenal have a team of young, hungry players with power, discipline, and togetherness. They are set to finish second for the third year in a row, bringing back Champions League football and earning a place at the top table of European football in the process.
The rate of change from mid-table strugglers to competitors on the elite level has been remarkable. It eclipses Jurgen Klopp's ascent at Liverpool, although Arteta is yet to get the trophy justification and reward.
Unlike Liverpool's business, Arsenal haven't had the transfer and recruitment misses in recent years. Their signings have almost always played a key part in taking the club on, even if some of them are coming to the end of their time already - Oleksandr Zinchenko, Gabriel Jesus, and Leandro Trossard have helped get Arsenal to where they are but are not part of the long-term future.
At the same time, Arteta has had to cut down and brutally sift through the players which formed late-Wenger and then Emery-era Arsenal. Looking at those sold and let go, Arsenal haven't made many poor choices.
Making an XI of players discarded by Arsenal under Arteta and it is debatable that none would make the squad right now. Starting in goal, David Raya's early struggles were highlighted by the success of Emiliano Martinez at Aston Villa but the changes have been proved mostly right.
Martinez left for £15million in 2020 with Arsenal continuing on with Bernd Leno before Aaron Ramsdale was signed. Ramsdale departed for what could rise to £25million three years after being signed for £30million from Sheffield United. He is set to go down with Southampton.
It is Martinez, now a World Cup winner and regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world, who has made the bigger impact. He has helped to elevate Villa to European contenders as well. Martinez's improvement since leaving Arsenal has been one of the few success stories for those left out by Arteta.
At right-back and Hector Bellerin was a favourite for his speed but joined boyhood club Barcelona for free in 2022 after a loan at Real Betis the season before. Bellerin lost his place to Ben White and Arsenal's strength with Jurrien Timber also on the right has added physicality and technical class which was missing.
Bellerin was signed for less than £500,000 and more than made that back for Arsenal, playing more than 200 times. Arteta has upgraded since he left, though.
That trend remains across the defence. Arteta's backline with Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba is one of the best in the world. Compare that to what he had before, with David Luiz, Pablo Mari, Rob Holding, Callum Chambers, and Konstantinos Mavropanos, it is night and day.
Holding stayed at Arsenal until 2023 having been thrown into the team at the end of the season before leaving. He moved to Crystal Palace but has since been loaned out to Sheffield United.
Rob Holding during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Arsenal FC at Etihad Stadium.
Rob Holding left Arsenal for Crystal Palace in 2023, but has failed to make a single Premier League appearance. (Image: Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Mavropanos and Mari are the two who have the most to shout about. Mari cost Arsenal just £4million after his initial loan and was sold in 2023 for the same amount. He is now moving around Italy, playing for Fiorentina. He spent the first half of the season with Monza, who are his parent club.
Chambers, who cost £15million over 10 years ago as a youth prospect at Southampton, left for free to join Aston Villa in 2022 after going on loan to Fulham and Middlesbrough. He is now at Cardiff City in the Championship.
Maybe the best player in this defence is Ainsley Maitland-Niles. The academy graduate was let go on a free in 2023 and is in at left-back here despite being a right-sided player. He was always a versatile option and played in midfield, wing-back, and defence. He is now at Lyon.
Moving forward and Arsenal's sales really pick up a bit in quality. Joe Willock is one of the few who generated decent transfer fees. He was the club's second most expensive sale under Arteta until this summer when he left to join Newcastle in 2021 for more than £25million. Willock has just won the Carabao Cup under Eddie Howe and is a valuable squad player for the Magpies. For a while it looked like he would be one Arsenal regret.
If Willock doesn't quite meet that threshold then Granit Xhaka certainly does. He turned his Arsenal career around from £40million flop to become a key member of Arteta's title-chasing 2022/23 team. He has left a hole on the left-side of midfield, where he would crash the box but also contribute defensively.
Xhaka won the Bundesliga with Germany is his first year at Bayer Leverkusen after being picked up for just £12million. Xabi Alonso continues to lean on Xhaka, where he is having a Indian summer to his time as a player.
His midfield partner is a choice of two. Both are heavily associated with banter era Arsenal but have gone on to do well enough elsewhere, even if they haven't been able to make Arteta regret his decision.
Lucas Torreira was signed for £25million from Sampdoria and only lasted two years before being loaned to Atletico Madrid and then Fiorentina. He joined Galatasaray in 2022, where he has played over 100 matches. Torreira was a regular in the Arsenal side but didn't last much longer than six months under Arteta.
The club had higher hopes for Matteo Guendouzi. He is still only 25 and signed from Lorient in 2018 for £5million. A product of the Paris Saint-Germain academy, Guendouzi was tipped for greatness at an early age but never managed to truly show that in England.
Arsenal sold him to Marseille in 2022 for less than £8million after loans there and at Hertha Berlin. Guendouzi joined Lazio in the summer and still hasn't properly settled down. He is making strides towards delivering on the hype and potential as he now returns back into the France national team.
Former Arsenal midfielder Matteo Guendouzi
Former Arsenal midfielder Matteo Guendouzi (Image: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
In Emile Smith Rowe, Arsenal banked a healthy £34million (including add-ons). He has benefited from the gametime at Fulham under Marco Silva, scoring five league goals and assisting two in 26 appearances.
Smith Rowe is a player Arsenal probably have missed at times this season but Arteta never truly put full faith in him once the stakes got bigger. Arsenal will argue that the money was worth it to enhance their financial position.
It is up front where a lot of attention has been. Due to the injuries for Kai Havertz and Jesus, Arsenal's choice to allow Mika Biereth, Eddie Nketiah, and Folarin Balogun to leave has been scrutinised.
Biereth is the one in the best form as he smashes in goals for Monaco. He was sold to Sturm Gratz last summer for £4million but has already secured himself another transfer. Arsenal sent him on a round of loans but could not provide a pathway.
Nketiah was offered a way in but never truly became trusted as a starter under Arteta. Eventually the club secured £25million with £5million more which could come in add-ons. His slow start at Palace suggests it was a fair fee and a good deal for Arsenal to complete, even if they haven't had the adequate cover this season.
Balogun was sold for £25million after a strong loan with Stade de Reims. He is now alongside Biereth at Monaco but hasn't had the same impact. Arsenal favoured Nketiah's development over Balogun.
Former Arsenal striker Folarin Balogun celebrates scoring for Monaco
Former Arsenal striker Folarin Balogun celebrates scoring for Monaco (Image: JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN/AFP via Getty Images)
Arteta can also point towards flipping Matt Turner in goal. He hasn't made a name for himself at Nottingham Forest. Leno is among the Fulham contingent now, where he remains central to Silva's plans.
It is those who left for free who are more notable. Luiz and Willian exited under Arteta. The latter is back in the Premier League, also at Fulham after a brief period away. Luiz plays in Brazil. Mesut Ozil, Shkodran Mustafi, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were all cleared out for free in their 30s after being signed for a combined £133million.
Ozil and Aubameyang did contribute greatly to the latter Wenger era but Mustafi fell short of his World Cup winning standards. Only Aubameyang managed to do anything after leaving Arsenal but his goals at Barcelona didn't translate into much for Chelsea.
They were all on the old side when Arteta turned away. In the XI of players sold by Arsenal, football.london has prioritised those who were let go at an earlier age and who might feasibly have still had something to offer.
Arsenal spent £277million to buy all of these players and would go on to generate £170million from their sales. In total it is more than £447m worth of transfers.
Arsenal XI that was sold: Martinez; Bellerin, Mavropanos, Mari, Maitland-Niles; Willock, Xhaka, Guendouzi, Smith Rowe; Balogun, Nketiah.
Bench: Ramsdale, Leno, Chambers, Holding, Torreira, Biereth, Aubameyang, Ozil, Mustafi, Willian, Luiz.
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Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus with the Arsenal Therapy Dog Win during the Arsenal Men's team group shoot at London Colney on September 18, 2023
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