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This Tuesday sees Chelsea play host to Arsenal in Premier League action, and both London clubs will be looking for a big win in what should be a full-blooded derby game.
Right now neither the Gunners nor the Blues are in Premier League title contention, but both sides have been massively successful during the Premier League era, winning numerous trophies along the way and being home to some of the best players to grace the competition.
Here are the top 5 players to have played for both Chelsea and Arsenal in the Premier League.
Honourable Mentions:
William Gallas, Emmanuel Petit, Olivier Giroud
1. David Luiz
Brazilian centre-back David Luiz often came under criticism during his time at Chelsea for his sometimes sloppy defending abilities, but that didn’t stop him from becoming one of their more successful players in recent years. Luiz joined the Blues from Benfica in January 2011 for a fee of €25m, and instantly became a first-team staple, completing 12 games in his first half-season and scoring 2 goals.
2011-12 saw him make a total of 40 first team appearances across all competitions, and the Brazilian was particularly outstanding in the Champions League, helping the Blues to the final, where he played all 120 minutes against Bayern Munich and netted his penalty in Chelsea’s eventual shoot-out victory.
By 2013-14 Luiz had fallen out of favour somewhat and it was seen as a coup for Chelsea when they sold him to Paris St. Germain for £50m, but when Antonio Conte took over at Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2016, one of his first moves was to bring the Brazilian back, and he subsequently proved to be a key performer in the Blues’ unexpected Premier League title win that season.
Luiz remained a key player for Chelsea until the end of 2018-19, when after helping the Blues to a triumph in the Europa League, he was surprisingly sold to Arsenal for £8m. He has since established himself in the Gunners’ first team and looks set to be a key player for them going forward under Mikel Arteta.
2. Petr Cech
Widely recognised as one of the best goalkeepers in Premier League history, Petr Cech arrived at Chelsea in 2004 from French side Rennes for what would prove to be a bargain fee of just £7m. Under boss Jose Mourinho, the Czech international established himself as the Blues’ #1 right away, and broke numerous records during his debut season, including, at the time, the longest period without letting in a goal (1,025 minutes) and the most clean sheets in Premier League history with 21.
Chelsea let in just 15 goals all season with Cech between the sticks, romping to the Premier League title, and it came as no surprise when they repeated the same feat in 2005-06. The Czech keeper played in 34 of Chelsea’s 38 league games, and the Blues let in just 22 goals.
In the seasons that followed, Cech would remain one of the league’s strongest goalkeepers, helping Chelsea to another Premier League title win in 2009-10 before playing a key role in their Champions League victory in 2011-12, saving a penalty from Arjen Robben in normal time during the final against Bayern Munich before stopping another 2 spot-kicks during the eventual penalty shoot-out.
2014-15 saw him win another Premier League title with the Blues – but this time he was largely deployed as a backup option to Thibaut Courtois, and he made just 7 appearances. Cech then departed Stamford Bridge for Arsenal in the summer of 2015, instantly becoming their first choice keeper – a role he played until his retirement in 2019, winning the FA Cup in 2016-17 along the way.
Cech has since returned to Chelsea in the role of a technical advisor.
3. Ashley Cole
One of Arsenal’s greatest ever academy products, left-back Ashley Cole rose through the ranks with the Gunners to establish himself as a constant in their first choice XI. He won two Premier League titles and three FA Cups with Arsenal, and was a key member of the famed ‘Invincibles’ side of 2003-04 that won the Premier League title without losing a game.
By the summer of 2006, Cole was widely recognised as the best left-back in the world, but feeling that Arsenal weren’t giving him enough recognition and didn’t match his ambition, he moved to Chelsea for a fee of £5m, with French defender William Gallas heading in the opposite direction – earning himself the derogatory nickname ‘Cashley’ in the process.
While at Chelsea, the England international continued to be recognised as one of the world’s most outstanding full-backs, and he ended up making 338 appearances for the club, winning a further 8 major trophies in the process, including the Champions League, Europa League, 4 more FA Cups and another Premier League title.
During this time, he played under a total of 8 different managers, all of whom regarded him as their undisputed first choice left-back. Cole eventually departed Chelsea for Roma in 2014 at the age of 34, and after spells with LA Galaxy and Derby County, announced his retirement from football in the summer of 2019.
4. Nicolas Anelka
French striker Nicolas Anelka burst onto the scene at Arsenal after joining them from Paris St. Germain as a 17-year old in early 1997. Expected to be a star of the future, Anelka instead broke into the Gunners first team in 1997-98 when Ian Wright picked up a long-term injury, and subsequently scored 6 goals in 26 games to help the Gunners win an unexpected Premier League title and FA Cup double.
1998-99 saw his form improve even further, and he finished the season as Arsenal’s top scorer with 17 Premier League goals in 35 games, but he also earned the ire of Gunners fans after pushing for a move away from the club, becoming known as ‘Le Sulk’ in the process. In the summer of 1999, he joined Real Madrid for a fee of £22m.
From there, the French striker became somewhat of a journeyman, having spells at Paris St. Germain, Liverpool, Manchester City, Fenerbahce and Bolton Wanderers, but it was with Chelsea that he finally showed his best form.
Anelka spent 4 and a half seasons at Stamford Bridge, and although he missed the key penalty in their 2007-08 Champions League final loss to Manchester United, he also scored a total of 59 goals for the club and was their top scorer in 2008-09. Along the way he won another Premier League title and two more FA Cups, before departing for the Chinese Super League in 2012.
5. Cesc Fabregas
Cesc Fabregas might’ve begun his career in Barcelona’s famed La Masia academy, but he joined Arsenal at the age of 15 and made his name with the North London side, breaking into their first team to become their youngest ever player at just 16 years and 177 days.
Within a couple of years he’d established himself as one of the Premier League’s best midfielders, winning his first trophy in 2004-05 as the Gunners defeated Manchester United to capture the FA Cup. After 7 seasons at Arsenal, the Spaniard had become the club’s captain and was named as their Player of the Year on two occasions.
The summer of 2011 saw him make a big move back to boyhood club Barcelona, but after 3 seasons at the Nou Camp, he made a return to Premier League action. Rather than head back to the Emirates, though, Fabregas instead made the switch to Chelsea, where he immediately established himself in their starting XI as a deep-lying playmaker.
The Spaniard made an immediate impact, playing in 34 of the Blues’ 38 Premier League games in 2014-15 as they captured the league title under Jose Mourinho, and from there he was practically an ever-present for the following 3 seasons, winning another Premier League title and making almost 200 appearances for the club in the process.
Fabregas finally departed Chelsea in January 2019 when he moved to French side Monaco, and he remains fondly remembered at both London clubs.
