Top 5 players Arsene Wenger signed in the Emirates era

On 7th May 2006, Arsenal played their last game at Highbury and like many times before, finished above their eternal rivals, Tottenham Hotspur. The game against Wigan Athletic ended 4-2 in Arsenal’s favour. It was a fitting end to an unforgettable era at Highbury which witnessed the ‘Invincibles’ and the legendary double-winning sides of 1998 and 2002.

However, with football scaling new heights commercially, it became important for Arsenal to expand itself commercially as well. The 38,000-seater Highbury gave way to the immaculate Emirates stadium which houses up to 60,000 Gooners at a time.

The building of the Emirates stadium was not a walk in the park. The club had to incur massive debt on the stadium and still keep producing results on the pitch. Arsenal’s financial muscle was significantly crippled and they got out-muscled in the transfer market by the wealthier clubs in the land.

Arsene Wenger though, still managed to keep the club competitive and qualified for the Champions League year after year. His transfer dealings assumed more importance as he was tasked with bringing quality players to the Emirates while also balancing the books. The sale of top-notch players such as Van Persie, Fabregas and Nasri didn’t help his case.

Arsene’s post-Highbury signings have not been able to inspire a run to the title yet. However, keeping in mind the constraints Wenger had to work with, some of them represent his most astute pieces of business. Through this article, we would look at the 5 best signings Arsene made after moving to the Emirates.

---

#5 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was signed from Borussia Dortmund in January 2018. His signing turned out to be Wenger’s last but could end up being one of his best. His acquisition shattered the club record as the Gunners stumped up £60 million for his services.

Aubameyang has searing pace and possesses the uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time. His finishing is exemplary and he rarely fluffs his lines. Aubameyang got off to a blistering start when he scored on debut against Everton with a delightful dink over Jordan Pickford. In 13 Premier League games, he has made the net bulge on 10 occasions while laying on 4 assists. He averages an impressive 0.77 goals per game.

While Arsene Wenger was not able to enjoy Aubameyang’s services for long, he has surely helped his successor by bringing in a proven goal scorer. Ever since Robin van Persie left the club, the Gunners have been searching for a poacher in front of goal and Aubameyang fits the bill perfectly. At 29 years, Aubameyang is at the peak of his powers and Arsenal can expect him to be firing on all cylinders for another couple of seasons at least.

Aubameyang gets onto this list on the basis of the promise he offers. If Aubameyang, the current No.14, is even half as successful as an earlier Arsenal No.14 aka Thierry Henry, he would have assured himself of a place in Arsenal folklore.

#4 Alexis Sanchez

Alexis Sanchez was acquired from FC Barcelona in the summer of 2014. Arsenal paid £38.25 million to bring the Chilean to the Emirates.

Sanchez hit the ground running and got himself 16 goals in his first Premier League season. In addition to this, he assisted a further 8 goals and created a lot of chances for his teammates. Along with Mesut Ozil, he quickly established himself as one of Arsenal’s talismans.

He encountered a slight dip in form in the next season due to some niggling injuries. However, he was still able to contribute 13 goals and 4 assists in 30 appearances for the Gunners in the English top flight.

The 2016-17 season was his best in an Arsenal shirt as he bagged 24 goals and 10 assists in the Premier League. He also picked up 10 man of the match awards for his displays.

He won two FA cups in his time at Arsenal and was pivotal in both of their successes. His long-range goal against Aston Villa in the 2015 FA Cup final will be etched forever in the Gooners’ memories.

Throughout his time, he was one of the players who stood up when the going got tough and dug Arsenal out of trouble. Though he stayed at Arsenal for only three and a half seasons, his contributions were enormous. Hence, he finds a place in this list.

#3 Santi Cazorla

Santi Cazorla was signed from Malaga in 2012 for a fee believed to be around £17 million. He was a part of Spain’s victorious Euro campaigns in 2008 and 2012.

When he arrived at Arsenal, Arsene Wenger played him in an attacking midfield role behind Olivier Giroud. He came up with some commendable performances but could not influence the game as he would have liked.

After the emergence of Francis Coquelin, Wenger started deploying him in a deeper central midfield role. It is in this deeper role that he enjoyed his best time at Arsenal. He started controlling the tempo of the game and became an indispensable cog in the Gunners’ machinery.

He improved the defensive side of his game as well and enjoyed a tackle success rate of around 75%. His best performance came away to Manchester City in 2015. He scored a penalty and ran rings around the Manchester City midfield.

Before his horrific Achilles injury, Cazorla had amassed 129 caps for the Gunners in the Premier League, scoring 25 times and providing assists on 35 occasions. He kept the Arsenal team ticking and accumulated around 67 passes per game throughout his time in North London.

Cazorla and his passing range were crucial for the Gunners and they suffered when he was sidelined by injury. Arsenal always seemed to play better when Cazorla was on the pitch. His contributions and his importance to the team is what gets him a place in this list. He represents another masterstroke on Wenger’s part and one of his best signings in the Emirates era.

#2 Mesut Ozil

When Mesut Ozil arrived at Arsenal in 2013, Arsenal had not just gotten hold of a world-class playmaker. By paying a then club-record fee, Arsenal had sent out a message to all its rivals that it could compete on the financial front again.

Ozil started off with a bang providing the first assist for the club against Sunderland. He quickly found his goal scoring boots with a brace against Norwich City to go with his sumptuous strike against Napoli. In his first season, Arsenal were atop the Premier League table till Christmas. However, a capitulation followed and they could not hold on to their lead at the perch of the table.

With only 37 goals in his Arsenal career, critics have argued that he needs to score more often. But he offsets that by creating an extraordinary amount of chances for his teammates. In addition to the 71 assists in his bag, he has also created 61 ‘big chances’ or clear-cut goal scoring opportunities.

Ozil has been a part of three FA Cup victories and has been crucial for the Gunners. He is the creator-in-chief for Arsenal and has been able to conjure magic on a lot of occasions. Though a lot of criticism is aimed at his languid style and his body language, Ozil has the stats in his favour to keep the critics off his heels. One should not forget that Ozil is the quickest ever to 50 Premier League assists.

The signing of Ozil gave Arsenal fans a reason to be excited about the transfer window again. It enabled the Gooners to believe that the glory days could be around the corner. Although not everything has gone to script, Ozil has been popping up with assists on a regular basis. It is for these reasons that he finds himself as one of the top two Wenger signings 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.