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#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.
