Goal takes a look at 10 Arsenal stars who never hit the same heights after leaving the Gunners.
When Kieran Gibbs left Arsenal for West Brom after spending over 11 seasons at the club, he remarked that he would learn how to improve defensively at his new team. Arsene Wenger was asked about those comments shortly after and made an apt statement which has rung true of several players after they departed north London for pastures new.
“Once someone takes the decision to leave I wish them well and focus on my squad, but just look at the performances of the players who left us and then come back to me about it,” he said in 2017.
Goal takes a look at 10 Arsenal stars who never hit the same heights after leaving the Gunners.
Getty ImagesEmmanuel Petit
Petit joined Arsenal from Monaco in 1997 after working with Wenger when the Frenchman was manager of the Ligue 1 side. The magnificent partnership between Petit and Patrick Vieira saw him make 85 appearances in three years before deciding to join Barcelona in the summer of 2000.
However, an injury-plagued spell coupled with poor performances saw him eventually return to the Premier League with Chelsea. Three seasons later, Petit retired from professional football.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesAlex Song
Arsenal's search for a defensive midfielder was eventually narrowed down to Cameroonian star Song. He initially struggled at the heart of the Gunners midfield before being sent on loan to Charlton where he honed his defensive qualities.
In the 2011/12 season he formed an exquisite partnership with Robin van Persie when he recorded 13 assists.
At the end of the season he joined Barcelona but struggled to get past Sergio Busquets in the team.
Following two disappointing campaigns with Barcelona he had mixed spells at West Ham and Russian side Rubin Kazan. He now plays for FC Sion in the Swiss Super League.
Getty ImagesPatrick Vieira
Vieira won three Premier League trophies and four FA Cup titles during his nine-year stay at Arsenal, captaining the club through the 49-game unbeaten season and making over 400 appearances for the Gunners.
He left for Juventus in July 2005 after Wenger accepted that he would need to let the Frenchman go in order for Cesc Fabregas to become the new mainstay of Arsenal's midfield.
Interestingly, Vieira returned to Highbury a year later when Juventus faced Arsenal in the quarter-finals of the Champions League and was culpable for one of Arsenal's goals after Robert Pires tackled him and helped set up Fabregas to score.
Spells at Inter and Manchester City followed but Vieira's quality began to diminish towards the latter stages of his career.
Getty ImagesAlexander Hleb
An exciting pass master with the ability to create something out of nothing, Hleb was part of an impressive Arsenal team which almost won the Premier League in the 2007/08 season.
When Barcelona came calling the Belarusian couldn't say no – but it was a decision that he came to regret as he failed to impress at Camp Nou.
“At some point, I realised, ‘Oh God! I’m leaving Arsenal!’ When Arsene said that it was a matter of hours, I felt devastated. It was really hard for me to accept. He even texted me as I was fishing. ‘Alex, I won’t let you go, we need you here’. I cried when I read it.”
Hleb has since admitted that he regrets ever leaving Arsenal. Three loan spells with Stuttgart, Birmingham and Wolfsburg later, he is now back in his homeland playing for BATE Borisov.