5 of Arsenal's best transfer windows of all-time

#4 Summer 2000

Robert Pires starred in two Premier League title wins with Arsenal

It seems odd having this one on the list, but then I think it shows how shrewd prime Arsene Wenger was at making smart signings that led to success just a little down the line.

That summer could’ve been seen as one of the most frustrating ones from an Arsenal fans’ point of view, as two of the star men from their 1997/98 double winning side were sold to Barcelona. Flying Dutch winger Marc Overmars and classy French midfielder Emmanuel Petit moved to the Nou Camp for a total of £32 million.

In reality, though, the powers of the two were waning – Petit lasted one season at the Nou Camp before returning to England with Chelsea, where he had little success, while Overmars’ Barca career was wrecked by knee injuries.

As for the men Arsenal brought in to replace them? Robert Pires went on to spend six seasons at Arsenal and was named in the Premier League’s Team of the Year three times, while Sylvain Wiltord scored 49 goals in 4 seasons at the club, and Lauren was one of the team’s more consistent performers for a solid period of six seasons.

And Arsenal? They did fine. Just a season later in 2001/02 they captured the Premier League title for the second time under Wenger, and went on to win it again two seasons later in the legendary Invincible season.

All three players starred in that side, with Pires finishing as their second-highest scorer and Lauren making an impressive 47 appearances in all competitions. The window marked some of Wenger’s smartest transfer dealings during his time as Arsenal boss.