5 players who left Arsenal to find success

Arsenal are undoubtedly one of the Premier League’s biggest clubs. Widely considered part of the league’s ‘Big Six’, the Gunners have been regular contenders for the Premier League title, as well as Champions League qualification, over the last 25 years.

However, that hasn’t stopped a large number of players from leaving the Emirates Stadium for pastures new in an attempt to find more success and more trophies. That was particularly true during the period of austerity at Arsenal that followed the move to their new stadium in 2006.

Gunners fans might’ve been upset by their moves, but in the end these players did pretty well at their new homes. Here are five players who tasted great success in their careers after leaving Arsenal.

#1 Robin van Persie

Dutch striker Robin van Persie is perhaps the greatest example of a player who left Arsenal in search of more success.

Van Persie joined the Gunners from Feyenoord in the summer of 2004 for a fee of just £2.75m. He was an immediate hit at Highbury, making his debut in a victorious Community Shield match before going on to score 10 goals in 41 appearances as Arsenal won the FA Cup at the end of his first season.

However, despite establishing himself as the Gunners’ leading forward over the next few years, that FA Cup win in his debut season would prove to be the high point of his Arsenal career.

Van Persie never really stopped scoring goals for the club – he delivered 132 in 278 appearances all told – but the closest he came to another trophy was in the Champions League in 2005-06, when the Gunners made the final only to lose to Barcelona.

By the end of 2011-12, the Dutchman had evidently tired of Arsenal’s trophy drought, and announced that he had no intention of signing a new deal at the club. Just weeks later, in something of a shocking move, he was sold to Manchester United – a bitter rival of Arsenal - for a fee of £22.5m.

Van Persie’s move would pay off massively; the Dutchman proved to be the key performer at Old Trafford as United stormed to their 20th Premier League title. He scored a phenomenal 26 goals in 38 league games, including two hat-tricks and two late winners against Liverpool and Manchester City.

To say the Dutchman would have no regrets about his move would be an understatement.

#2 Samir Nasri

Signed by Arsenal after the conclusion of Euro 2008, French playmaker Samir Nasri took the #8 shirt once worn by club legend Ian Wright. And over a period of three seasons, he became one of the Gunners’ key players.

Nasri scored the winning goal on his debut for the club against West Bromwich Albion, and while he suffered with injuries from time to time, he was generally one of Arsenal’s more consistent players.

Despite his good performances though, Nasri was not able to get his hands on any trophies during his time at the Emirates. In fact, the Frenchman never even came close, as Arsenal never challenged for the league title during his time at the club and only made one final – the 2011 EFL Cup, where they were beaten by huge underdogs Birmingham City.

In the summer of 2011, Nasri earned the ire of Arsenal fans by making the move to newly minted Manchester City, who had already angered the Gunners by signing key players Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure two seasons prior. To make matters worse, the Frenchman even suggested that City’s fans had more passion than Arsenal’s.

Unfortunately for Gunners fans, the player had the last laugh. His first season at the Etihad saw him score 5 goals and make 9 assists as City won their first Premier League title. And although his influence began to wane soon after, he was still able to help his new side to another Premier League title in 2013-14, as well as an EFL Cup win in the same season.

To date, the only trophies Nasri has won have come while at City, meaning his move was well worth it.

#3 Cesc Fabregas

There’s probably an argument to be made that no other Arsenal player came around at quite so much the wrong time as Cesc Fabregas.

The Spanish midfielder – who became renowned for his range of passing, creativity and ability to find teammates with the ball – joined the Gunners from his boyhood club of Barcelona in September 2003. But despite Arsenal famously winning the 2003-04 Premier League title – going unbeaten in the process – Fabregas didn’t receive a winner’s medal as he didn’t play a single league game.

2004-05 saw him win the FA Cup with the Gunners, but he hadn’t really established himself as a first team regular at that point. By the time he did, Arsenal had fallen behind not just their old rivals Manchester United, but Chelsea too.

Fabregas spent 8 seasons at the club, becoming captain in the process – but his only trophy with them was that solitary FA Cup.

In the summer of 2011 the Spaniard made the move back to his boyhood club, signing with Barcelona for a fee of €29m. One season later, he picked up his first league title at the Nou Camp, making 32 appearances and scoring 11 goals in the process.

The Spaniard left Barca in the summer of 2014, but to make things worse for Arsenal fans, his move back to England saw him head to Chelsea rather than back to the Emirates. At Stamford Bridge he would win a further four trophies, including two Premier League titles, finally finding the success he could never achieve with the Gunners.

#4 Gael Clichy

Like Cesc Fabregas, left-back Gael Clichy joined Arsenal in the summer of 2003. But despite being just 18 at the time, the Frenchman was able to break into the Gunners’ first team right away - not as an outright starter, but largely as a backup to first choice left-back Ashley Cole.

When Cole picked up an injury in December, Clichy was able to play enough league games to win a medal as Arsenal won the 2003-04 Premier League, becoming the youngest player to do so in the process.

Unfortunately for Clichy, that would be his only success at the club. Despite taking over as Arsenal’s first-choice left back following the departure of Cole in the summer of 2006 – and having his best season in 2007-08, registering 6 assists and appearing in all 38 league games – he was unable to get his hands on another trophy during his time with the Gunners.

In the summer of 2011 the Frenchman made the same move that his former teammates Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure had done by signing with Manchester City for a fee of somewhere around £7m. And after making 28 appearances at the Etihad, Clichy quickly found the success he’d been unable to find at Arsenal, winning his second Premier League title as the Citizens’ first-choice left-back.

Clichy ended up spending six seasons in Manchester, and won a further Premier League title as well as two EFL Cups - essentially more than doubling the trophy haul that he’d been able to pick up at Arsenal.

#5 Thomas Vermaelen

Belgian centre-back Thomas Vermaelen is almost certainly the most curious entry on this list. Like the players mentioned prior to him, his trophy haul increased massively once he left Arsenal. But unlike those players, there’s an argument to be made that his actual prime came when he was with the Gunners rather than with Barcelona – the club he found all of his success with.

Vermaelen made the move to Arsenal in the summer of 2009, joining from Ajax for a fee of €10m as the replacement for Kolo Toure who had been sold to Manchester City earlier that summer. Forming a defensive partnership with William Gallas, the Belgian quickly established himself as not just one of the best central defenders in the Premier League, but in the world too.

Overall Vermaelen spent 5 seasons at the Emirates. And outside of his 2010-11 season which was curtailed by injuries, he was largely ever-present, putting together 110 appearances for the Gunners in the Premier League alone.

2013-14 saw him make fewer appearances, but it was during that season he won his lone trophy at Arsenal – the FA Cup.

The summer of 2014 saw him unexpectedly sign with Barcelona. But his difficult history with injuries raised its head once again, and it took him until May 2015 to make his debut for the Blaugrana.

Despite this though, the Belgian won the LaLiga with his new club that season. He went on to repeat the feat a further four times, as well as winning the Copa del Rey 3 times and the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup too - despite only making a total of 53 appearances at the club.