TOP13 од football365
1)
PATRICK VIEIRA (bought for £3.5m, sold for £18m)
Bought with the nod of the incoming manager as a completely unknown 20-year-old in September 1996, 12 years later Vieira was voted the fifth-best Arsenal player of all time. In the meantime, the Frenchman had won three Premier League titles - the final triumph coming after an Invincible season with Vieira wearing the captain's armband. The Gunners have won nothing since his exit and lazy pundits still say 'for me, they never replaced Patrick Vieira'.
2)
NICOLAS ANELKA (bought for £500,000, sold for £22.3m)
Possibly the best deal ever made by any manager in England, Anelka came to Arsenal as a 17-year-old, scored some goals (helping Arsenal to the double in 1997-98), sulked a little bit and then buggered off to Real Madrid for massive money. Kerching.
3)
EMMANUEL PETIT (bought for £2.5m, sold for £7m)
I was at Highbury for the unveiling of Petit (along with Marc Overmars) and frankly, he looked like a cock, He was wearing some kind of see-through white vest and the gathered press wondered a) who the hell he was and b) who the hell he thought he was. Well, he was a decent defender who Wenger turned into the perfect partner for Vieira into the centre of the Arsenal midfield. Astonishingly, he was only there for three seasons...but lordy he was good.
4)
MARC OVERMARS (bought for £5.5m, sold for £25m)
Crikey, he bought some fantastic players in those first seasons, didn't he? The Dutchman had the wonderful knack of scoring vital goals over three years at Arsenal (including one at Old Trafford, Gunners may remember) and formed an almost telepathic understanding with Dennis Bergkamp. He was then sold on for a phenomenal fee and few could quibble that he'd been terrific value.
5)
FREDDIE LJUNGBERG (bought for £3m, left on free)
Apparently signed by Wenger on the strength of his performance for Sweden against England, the facially-blessed winger proved to be more than a little handy over nine seasons at Arsenal. He had the very happy knack of appearing at the far post to score those tap-ins that the rest of the Arsenal team rejected as far too easy.
6)
THIERRY HENRY (bought for £10m, sold for £20m)
You know this story too well for us to reel it out again. Basically, he looked like a donkey and then he looked like the best footballer the world had ever seen. He scored a phenomenal 174 Premier League goals in 254 games and, well, he was frankly f***ing fantastic.
7)
ROBERT PIRES (bought for £6m, left on free)
The sixth-greatest player ever to play for Arsenal and definitely the owner of the best goatee, Pires was Overmars' replacement and he certainly lived up to the billing. Had an almost one-in-three goalscoring record and clearly revelled in playing with the man above him on this list. Eventually fell victim of Arsène's ageism, but only after winning two Premier League titles.
8)
SOL CAMPBELL (bought for nothing, left for nothing)
For three seasons (including the Invincibles year), Campbell was quite simply phenomenal. One of the best free transfers of all time, Campbell was the first central defender Wenger bought who was an unprecedented success. Latterly lost his way but Gooners should not forget just how good he was in 2003-04.
9)
KOLO Touré (bought for £15,000, sold for £16m)
Bought for peanuts as a striker or attacking midfielder, Touré left for big money as one of the best central defenders in the Premier League. He was quite simply brilliant in the Invincibles season beside Campbell as Arsenal finally found a central defensive pairing to match the one he had inherited from Bruce Rioch. Things didn't go quite so swimmingly with William Gallas but he remains an Arsenal favourite even after his exit. Mostly by virtue of not being Emmanuel Adebayor.
10)
GILBERTO SILVA (bought for £4.5m, sold for £1m)
Abou Diaby's pre-cursor in attracting the considerable wrath of Pete Gill, Gilberto actually makes Diaby look like a world-beater. He may have taken his 'Invisible Wall' nickname a little too literally in latter years, but he deserves a place in this list for his part in the Invincible season when he dovetailed brilliantly with Vieira.
11)
CESC FABREGAS (bought for nothing, valued at £30m-plus)
Still only 22 but has made over 200 appearances for Arsenal since they sneaked him out of Spain under cover of darkness. Phil Brown may not like the way he dresses, but Arsenal fans have been enjoying the way he plays since he took over the central midfield reins from Patrick Vieira. It seems more and more likely that he will exit the club next summer, probably for a massive wedge of money.
12)
ROBIN VAN PERSIE (bought for £2.75m, valued at £20m-plus)
An absolute bargain, the Dutchman was signed as a winger with Wenger envisioning a conversion echoing that of Henry. Van Persie has never quite been in that class but injuries have prevented him really fulfilling his potential, though a league strike record of one in three is nae too bad.
13) EMMANUEL ADEBAYOR (bought for £7m, sold for £25m)
Unpopular player. Popular profit.