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Arsenal today by no means reflect aptly on the glory that the Gunners basked in at the turn of the century. Monsieur Arsene Wenger's arrival brought a mutation to the DNA of the club that defined the 'Arsenal way' of playing the game. The club, though, hadn't been so loftily afloat in terms of financial resources.
Moreover, it was Wenger's ability to weave a side's nature before it had been assembled on the pitch to condition them to play in the most attractive manner. The model he set up at Arsenal became quite popular and influential. Buy some emerging and relatively unpopular faces, mix them up with a few established stars and produce match winners for the coming generations at Arsenal.
Arsenal wish they hadn't let go of some exceptional talent
That coming generation, though, hasn't quite arrived since 2010s with Wenger struggling to keep the engine at Arsenal fresh from time to time and running at its best. Players left Arsenal for trophies, for personal accolades and in order to reignite their somewhat stagnating reputation.
But there were those that Arsenal wanted to move on from willingly, those that were part of the plans, but not central to it. They did not force a move out of the club with their antics to travel to greener pastures nor were they treated harshly and shipped away. This was as much a marriage as it was destined to last and then there was only moving on, except that it shouldn't have been, or so the future proved.
On that note, here are five players Arsenal should have never sold in the first place:
#5 Patrick Vieira
Patrick Vieira was the first foreign player to captain Arsenal and he was one of the most passionate and fiery figures to wear the armband. His presence in midfield was a colossal one and when given the license to roam around the pitch freely, there were few who could stop Vieira in his tracks.
The Frenchman's sublime skills on the ball and his physical prowess were supremely important for Arsenal's ball retention and progression from back to front. Under his captaincy, Arsenal won the 2003-04 season as Invincibles and also won the FA Cup twice in 2003 and 2005.
Vieira was 29 when he moved to Juventus for a fee of £18 million. It came as a surprise because there was no such dip in form or lack of quality in the Arsenal captain's on-field display. In fact, he consistently made the cut to the PFA Team of the Year from 1999 to 2004.
A few injuries had started to creep in and a certain Cesc Fabregas was not letting anyone shine in the Arsenal midfield. But look at it in the long term and this was the making of the Gunners' downfall to an extent. They could never find another player worthy of filling in Vieira's boots or someone with the guts to take on Roy Keane in a heated spat.
#4 Wojciech Szczesny
Wojciech Szczesny realized the cost of lacking professionalism in football the hard way when his cigarette-smoking antics in the Southampton shower were caught red-handed. Sure, after a disappointing display on the field, some sort of stress buster was essential, but this was unacceptable.
Szczesny, who was supposed to turn up as Arsenal's number one choice in goal, had jeopardized his career in north London and at a club he really liked. Two loan moves to AS Roma in Italy followed. It would be fair to say that performance wise and responsibility wise, the Arsenal loanee successfully redeemed himself.
But the Polish keeper, who made nearly over 130 appearances for Arsenal between 2009 and 2015, before being loaned to Roma, was approached by Juventus and Wenger was more than happy to cash in. He was sold for just £12 million.
Meanwhile Arsenal had acquired the services of former Chelsea keeper Petr Čech who was neither a big upgrade nor a significant downgrade from the Pole. In 2009 Arsene Wenger was quoted saying, "We have identified Wojciech as a future great, great goalkeeper."
Surely the management at Arsenal could have been more patient when they spotted a future great at such a tender age. Needless to mention, Szczesny at Juventus won much more than he would have come close to winning at Arsenal.
#3 Olivier Giroud
Perhaps the most contentious claim on this list is that Arsenal should not have sold Olivier Giroud to Chelsea when they did. The French striker has never been one to sulk when faced with hardship. He has not dithered in the face of inconsistent game-time at Arsenal, Chelsea or now at AC Milan. Instead, he has always put his head up and shown utmost professionalism.
Giroud was an absolute menace in the air, a trait that neither Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang nor Alexandre Lacazette have shown to execute effectively. The striker was able to net a tally of 15 goals every season at Arsenal during his five-and-a-half year spell with the Gunners before being sold in January 2018.
Arsenal limited their own options by shipping Giroud away. In 2019 in Baku, he came back to haunt them in the final of the Europa League by breaking the deadlock. By scoring 11 goals in the competition that season, Giroud became the highest scoring French player in a single season in European competition.
Last season he scored four goals against Sevilla in the Champions League while Arsenal weren't having the most comfortable time in the Europa League. The France international is the second-highest scorer for his country at 46, only behind Thierry Henry.
#2 Serge Gnabry
Serge Gnabry openly admits his love for Arsenal after all these years, whenever given an opportunity, and that makes this an even more heartbreaking sale. At the moment, the German has the world at his feet as his trophy cabinet is filled with Bundesliga and Champions League titles.
But all that talent could have been Arsenal's had they shown some soft corner towards a young Gnabry who was struggling to find his feet. In 2016, Wenger agreed to sell Gnabry to Werder Bremen, who acquired his services for £5 million.
But what was really disappointing was that Arsenal did not gamble on the least chance of the winger coming good. There was no buy-back clause or no first right to a refusal agreement in Gnabry's contract.
In hindsight, the Bayern Munich forward's explosive pace, technical abilities and knack for finding the back of the net could have turned Arsenal's fortunes.
Gnabry is one among Bayern's most valuable assets and his current market value stands at €70 million. In his three seasons with the Bavarians, the former Arsenal man has managed to clock 15 goal contributions per season in all those campaigns since 2018.
#1 Emiliano Martinez
Just one year after allowing Emiliano Martinez to leave for a fee of £20m to Aston Villa, Arsenal were back hunting for a man to replace Bernd Leno. A mess only Arsenal could land themselves in. All Mikel Arteta had to do was accept the fact that the best keeper in his ranks had come asking for a deserved No.1 spot and agree to it.
In an appropriate Arsenal manner, the boss left things open and unclear. Arteta wasn't ready to commit to the decision to push Leno down the pecking order and would agree to the sale of the Argentine. 10 months is a short period to show that you are better than the "assumed best" at your club.
But Martinez was oozing confidence in goal. He was decisive while playing from the back just as Arteta needed and he was more than decent enough when it came to getting a hand on the most sweetly struck strikes. The change of clubs only proved favorable to Martinez as he cemented his reputation as one of the best in the Premier League by finishing third in the Golden Glove race last season.
Martinez started in six games for Argentina in Copa America and only let in two goals. He topped up his excellent performances by showing his cheeky character against Colombia in the penalty shootout and kept his nerves to help Argentina go through.
It is difficult to say right now if Arsenal's new emerging number one choice, Aaron Ramsdale, is better than Martinez but the early signs are positive. Perhaps Ramsdale is made more out of the traditional Arsenal mold than Martinez was. But there is no denying that letting Martinez go was nothing short of a blunder by Arsenal.
