Top 5 players Arsene Wenger signed in the Emirates era

#1 Laurent Koscielny

Laurent Koscielny was brought in from French side FC Lorient for a fee around £11.25 million in 2010. He has established himself as one of Arsenal’s pillars in the recnt years.

Koscielny’s Arsenal career got off to a rocky start and he was sent off on debut against Liverpool at Anfield. After that infamous afternoon, he slowly but surely became one of Arsenal’s prime defenders. On the occasions where Koscielny was not on the pitch, Arsenal looked vulnerable defensively. This highlights the influence he had on a leaky defence-line and how his presence made them competitive.

Koscielny has racked up 238 appearances for Arsenal in the Premier League. He enjoyed a stellar partnership with Per Mertesacker for a couple of seasons. Koscielny has had a hand in 87 clean sheets in his time at Arsenal.

He is an excellent tackler and boasts of an excellent tackle success rate of 71%. Koscielny has also gotten Arsenal out of trouble on a number of occasions with him coming up with 22 ‘last man tackles’. On the attacking front, he has produced the goods for Arsenal 24 times, with his best goal being the bicycle kick against Southampton.

Koscielny was one of many players signed by Arsene for a meagre transfer fee. Koscielny, though, has been worth every penny. Arsene weaved his magic on another young Frenchman and made him the world-beater that he is today. Due to the value for money provided by him and his sheer importance to the team, Koscielny pips everyone to be the best Arsene Wenger signing in the post-Highbury era.