Highlights

• Wenger's arrival at Arsenal marked the beginning of a successful era, with the manager bringing in talented players that led the team to a domestic double in his first year.
• Arsenal struggled to maintain their dominance in English football as time went on, with the team failing to win a Premier League title since their unbeaten season in 2003/04.
• Wenger's final signings at Arsenal varied in terms of success, with some players like Mesut Ozil and Granit Xhaka becoming fan favorites, while others like Lucas Perez failed to make a significant impact.

You cannot think of Arsenal without immediately thinking of Arsene Wenger. Nor can you think of the latter without then immediately thinking of the former. After all, the pair achieved greatness together in what was effectively a 22-year marriage.

The French manager arrived in England in 1996 having built his reputation with Monaco. And while he collected some silverware during his time at the Ligue 1 club, including the league title during the 1987/88 season and the French Cup during the 1990/91 campaign, the floodgates well and truly opened at Highbury.

Wenger immediately put his stamp on the north London club, bringing in a whole host of players that would become Arsenal icons in the coming years. Patrick Vieira arrived from AC Milan that season, and more talent would follow in the summer of 1997. Le Professeur added the likes of Marc Overmars and Emmanuel Petit to a squad already brimming with quality.

With Wenger at the wheel, Arsenal went on to blow the competition out of the water that year, completing a domestic double. Lifting the FA Cup and the Premier League meant that Wenger became the first non-British manager to get his hands on both trophies in a single year.

And that was just the beginning of the match made in heaven. Trophies would continue to be put in the Gunners’ trophy cabinet, including another Premier League after the 2003/04 Invincible season. And Wenger continued to bring some of the best players in the world to the English capital, the likes of Thierry Henry, Robert Pirès, and Gilberto Silva. We could go on.

As time went on though, Arsenal fell behind the other teams in England. They have not got their hands on a Premier League title since that incredible 03/04 campaign, and all that Wenger was able to claim after that was an FA Cup and Community Shield here or there.

During his final few years at the club until he left in 2018, some quality players continued to arrive, but the stars were few and far between. So, with it being five years since the great man decided to leave the club for good, the team at GIVEMESPORT thought we would have a look at how Wenger’s final 25 Arsenal signings fared and see what they are up to now.

1 Nacho Monreal

Signed in January 2013 from Malaga, it's fair to say that Monreal was a good servant to the Gunners. The full-back gave Arsenal over six years of service, departing in 2019 after 251 appearances. He returned to Spain with Real Sociedad and continued playing for a further three years, before hanging up his boots in 2022.

2 Semi Ajayi

Ajayi had impressed while on trial at Arsenal in 2013, having come through Charlton Athletic’s academy, and was eventually signed by the club. However, he failed to develop into a first-team player, joining Cardiff two years later. Now 29, he was a regular starter for West Brom in the Championship last season.

3 Emiliano Viviano

Despite having Wojciech Szczesny and Lukasz Fabianski already at the club, Wenger decided he needed a third goalkeeper. Viviano joined the Gunners on loan from Palermo in 2014 but made no appearances for the Premier League side. He returned to Italy the following year, going on to represent Sampdoria and SPAL. He has recently signed for Ascoli in Serie B.

4 Mesut Ozil

One of Wenger’s finest signings in his final years as Arsenal's coach. Signed from Real Madrid for £42 million, Ozil became a star in the Premier League, creating chances at will and scoring a fair few himself.

His career at the Emirates ended on a sour note, with his contract terminated in January 2021 so that he could join Fenerbahce. He went on to play for Başakşehir in the Turkish Super League too but retired in March this year at 34 years old.

5 Mathieu Flamini

Having left Arsenal for AC Milan in 2008, Wenger brought Flamini back to the Emirates in 2013 for a second spell. He was only ever a rotation option though, but played a role in helping the Gunners qualify for the Champions League and lift two FA Cups.

After leaving in 2016, he would feature for Crystal Palace and Getafe before calling time on his football career in 2019. But he’s been very successful away from the pitch, with his business ventures meaning he is now a billionaire.

6 Yaya Sanogo

Sanogo had impressed Wenger while at Auxerre and signed for the English club in 2013. But he failed to live up to expectations at the Emirates, scoring just one goal in 20 appearances. After unsuccessful loans to Crystal Palace, Ajax and Charlton, he left the club permanently for Toulouse in 2017. Now, he plys his trade for Armenian side, FC Urartu.

7 Kim Kallstrom

Signed on loan from Spartak Moscow, Kallstrom’s time at the Emirates quickly started to unravel when he arrived with a back injury. In the end, he only featured four times for the Gunners before returning to Russia. Following spells with Grasshoppers in Switzerland and Djurgården in Sweden, the midfielder has been retired since 2017.

8 Alexis Sanchez

He might be considered one of the worst transfers in Manchester United history, but everyone remembers just how good Sanchez was under Wenger. The former Barcelona man was a demon at Arsenal, with his pace and dribbling making him one of the most dangerous attackers in the league.

Unfortunately, his 2018 move to United did not go according to plan, but he rebuilt himself at Inter Milan and then Marseille after that. Despite scoring 14 goals for the French club in Ligue 1 last season though, he is now a free agent.

9 Mathieu Debuchy

An established international with France, Debuchy signed for Arsenal from Newcastle in 2014. But it’s probably fair to say that his career at the Emirates didn’t go to plan. He wasn’t helped by injuries, but Hector Bellerin’s emergence meant he was restricted to just 30 appearances for the club.

The Frenchman left in 2016 in search of more regular minutes, joining Bordeaux on loan. He permanently left two years later for Saint-Etienne, moving on to Valenciennes FC in 2021. Now 38, Debuchy confirmed his retirement from football this year.

10 David Ospina

Although he made 18 league appearances for Arsenal in the 2014/15 season, Ospina became a backup goalkeeper for the rest of his time at the Emirates. Despite being restricted mainly to cup competitions, the Colombian international was reliable when called upon, helping his side lift two FA Cups.

After four years at the club, he joined Napoli in 2018, initially on loan and then permanently the following year. He is now lining up alongside Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr.

11 Calum Chambers

Chambers had looked impressive after breaking into Southampton’s first team, convincing Wenger to bite the bullet and sign the youngster for £18 million. He featured 23 times in the league during the 2014/15 campaign but then found himself in a rotational role for the subsequent years.

After loans to Middlesbrough and Fulham, the 28-year-old left the club permanently in 2022 for Aston Villa. He’s hardly become a regular starter there either, and played just 341 Premier League minutes last season.

12 Danny Welbeck

Welbeck is arguably one of the most underappreciated strikers in the Premier League in the last 10 years. He spent five years at Arsenal, and while he only netted 32 goals in all competitions, he was still a good option to call upon.

After failing to excel at Watford, Welbeck joined Brighton in 2020, where he remains to this day. He played regularly under Roberto De Zerbi, scoring six times and providing four assists in 31 matches last season.

13 Krystian Bielik

Bielik had made his senior debut for Legia Warsaw at just 16 years old, and Wenger believed he was one for the future. Arsenal paid the Polish club £2 million in 2017 for the talented midfielder. But things didn’t go to plan. Beilik failed to develop into a Premier League quality player and was eventually sold to Derby County in 2019. He now lines up for Birmingham City in the Championship, having joined the Blues permanently this summer.

14 Gabriel Paulista

Before Gabriel Magalhães arrived, supporters attending the Emirates got to watch Gabriel Paulista start in defence. Bought for £13 million in 2015, the Brazilian spent two years in the Premier League, regularly playing for Wenger, but never looking like a long-term option. He was eventually sold in 2017 to Valencia, where he remains to this day.

15 Petr Cech

Cech is widely considered to be one of the greatest goalkeepers to have ever played in the league. Wenger brought him to Arsenal in 2015 after the Czech Republic shot-stopper lost his spot at Chelsea to Thibaut Courtois. He never looked like the goalkeeper he used to be while in north London, but he still gave them a solid four seasons. He retired in 2019 following their Europa League final loss to his former club.

16 Mohamed Elneny

One of the few players on this list who is still at the club. It’s been seven years since Elneny joined from Basel, making him the longest-serving player currently at Arsenal. The Egyptian has mainly been a squad player during his time at the Emirates but committed his future to the Gunners by signing a one-year contract extension this year.

17 Granit Xhaka

Xhaka’s Arsenal career looked all but over when he tore off his shirt and slammed it on the turf. But what a comeback story he had with the Gunners, going from villain and walking red card to fan-favourite under Mikel Arteta. He moved on to Bayer Leverkusen this summer, receiving a very different send-off in his last game at the Emirates compared to that afternoon in 2019.

18 Shkodran Mustafi

While Xhaka might have been a fan-favourite by the time he left, Mustafi certainly wasn’t. The German, having joined from Valencia for £36 million, made mistakes constantly in defence for the Gunners.

Despite that, the club persisted, and Mustafi would spend five years playing Premier League football before joining Schalke in 2021. Now 31, he is searching for a new club, having been released by Spanish side, Levante.

19 Takuma Asano

“Takuma is a talented young striker and very much one for the future,” Wenger said when Asano signed in 2016. The 21-year-old striker had broken into the Japanese national side and made five appearances by then.

Loans to Stuttgart and then Hannover ultimately ended with Asano being sold to Serbian side Partizan Belgrade in 2019. Still only 28 years old, he now plays in Germany for VFL Bochum, where he has scored seven times in 58 appearances.

20 Rob Holding

Apart from Elneny, Holding is the only other player still at the club. Bought from Bolton seven years ago, Holding has been in and out of the Arsenal team, becoming more of a rotational option under Arteta. Nevertheless, he has still managed to get his hands on two FA Cups. Supporters will never forget when he locked up Chelsea’s Diego Costa in 2017.