5 players who had more successful careers after leaving Arsenal

No club likes to lose their best players, especially when they’ve taken them in as one of their own. Fans get emotionally attached to players and sometimes forget that these individuals have their own minds and perhaps different ambitions prior to joining the club. Arsenal especially have experienced severe heart loss when it comes to the departures of many beloved players, who have then gone on to do greater things elsewhere.

The Arsenal fanbase has experienced many a heartbreak over the years. They’ve lost their best ever manager, lost several marquee men and experienced an unhealthy trophy drought. The fact that two of these factors were applied in the same period only magnified their impact.

Here are 5 players who had a much more successful career after leaving Arsenal.

5. Samir Nasri

Samir Nasri enjoyed ample amounts of success after leaving Arsenal

In the summer of 2011, Arsène Wenger openly stated that if he were to sell Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas in one summer, they were no longer a big club. Unfortunately, the Frenchman wasn’t to know that his words would come to haunt him. As the French international would join City for £25million on a 4-year deal.

It was Wenger who plucked Nasri from complete obscurity at Marseille in 2008 and turned him into a world-class talent. Due to Wenger’s coaching, Nasri would also become a key figure for the national team making 41 appearances over six years.

In his time at the Emirates, Nasri scored 27 goals in 124 appearances but it was his linkup play and chance creation that were his standout attributes. At times, Nasri was unplayable often leaving PL defenders in his wake. At Manchester City, the Frenchman felt justified in his decision as he would go on to win two PL titles, a League Cup and Community Shield. Nasri wasn’t humble in his accomplishments either, regularly taking digs at his former club due to their inability to win trophies at the time.

4. Gael Clichy

Gael Clichy won 2 Premier League titles at Manchester City

When Gael Clichy first arrived at Arsenal, he was tasked with the feat of competing with Ashley Cole. As a youngster, he found it hard to displace Cole, but Wenger had promised him game time in the league. It was gradually over the season that Clichy began to play more games with injuries to England international piling up. However, the Frenchman’s injuries would start to build up too, leaving his place in the team in doubt.

Injuries would plague the rest of his Arsenal tenure and the Gunners did well to be loyal to the left-back. So much so, that Clichy would declare moving to City as a ‘love for money’. Two years later, Clichy would join Manchester City as he wanted to ‘win things’. Despite the Gunners being loyal to him in his injury-stricken years, Clichy would leave when he was fully fit and go on to win two PL titles at the Etihad. Although he won a title in his debut season at Arsenal, the two titles at City meant more as he started most of the games in the campaign.

3. Ashley Cole

The famous quote that defined Ashley Cole’s Arsenal departure was: “£55,000? David Dein is taking the piss Jonathan” As a player Arsenal took in at a young age, Gunners fans saw Cole as one of their own. He was Arsenal born and bred and the fact that he was world-class only added to the affection they had for him. Arsène Wenger nurtured the young left-back into the best full-back in the world, as he embodied what the modern full-back needed to be.

Cole would eventually secure his move to the wealthy Chelsea for a measly fee of £5mllion with Willian Gallas going the other way. The way he moved and how his relationship deteriorated with the club were both controversial. In 2005, it was found out that Chelsea had tried to tap up Cole behind Arsenal’s back, a decision they were later fined for.

After uttering the aforementioned quote, he was forever known as Cashley Cole by the Arsenal fans. However, Cole will see his departure as justified as he would go onto win the UEFA Champions League, Premier League, 4 FA Cups, the Europa League, and the League Cup.

2. Cesc Fabregas

You’d be hard-pressed to find a more talented 16-year-old in football than Cesc Fabregas in his debut season for Arsenal. The Spaniard was simply a phenomenon in his early years in London, breaking into the first team at 15. Wenger believed in him so much so that he quickly graduated from League Cup games to Premier League appearances. The midfielder would then evolve into a locker room leader and the club’s captain.

However, his boyhood club would come calling and Fabregas’ head was completely turned afterward. He reportedly went on training boycotts and made it clear to the manager that he wanted to go back to Spain. At Arsenal, the Spaniard only won one FA Cup, at FC Barcelona he won a league title and five domestic cups. To make matters worse, Cesc would join Chelsea in 2014 and win the coveted PL title he didn’t come close to at Arsenal. Such was the uniqueness of Fabregas’ ability, this transfer saga hurt Arsenal fans the most and seeing him do so well after the Emirates added insult to injury.

1. Robin van Persie

When Thierry Henry left North London, he left them with massive shoes to fill. Unfortunately for Wenger, he tried to sign many a player in that position to no avail. The likes of Emmanuel Adebayor, Nikolas Bendtner, and Marouane Chamakh all failed, until one talented Dutchman finally came good. It’s no secret that Robin van Persie had many injury problems at Arsenal, but it was in the 2010/11 season where he scored 37 goals in 48 apps finally repaying Wenger’s faith in him.

However, van Persie would allow the accolades to get to his head and demand a move away from the Emirates. The Dutchman would engineer a move for himself to Old Trafford and he would be justified in his decision, as he won his first-ever Premier League title within the first year at Manchester United. That alone was enough for Van Persie and he has openly said he doesn’t regret leaving London purely for the fact that he has a PL medal in his cabinet.