Many had praised Arsene Wenger for his ability that made Arsenal remained competitive despite tight budget when he was still in charge of the North London club. The Frenchman could transform players such as Hector Bellerin, who cost the club nothing, into well-known stars.
However, not all Arsenal stars could have a career as good as Bellerin at the Emirates. Several players failed miserably at the North London outfit after being bought or promoted by Wenger in the past. Despite the failure, some of them is now bouncing back and could even outshine Arsenal's current players.
Now let's take a look at 3 former Arsenal outcast who the club regret selling.
#1 Mathieu Debuchy
It was no secret that Wenger loved French players when he was at Arsenal and Mathieu Debuchy had been the exact example of that. The defender was bought by the former manager from Newcastle for €15 million in 2014 and was becoming a regular at his debut season for the North London club.
Unfortunately, his Arsenal career was plagued by injuries. The Frenchman became a fringe player at 2015/16 Premier League season and his time at the Emirates had been a nightmare since. He was loaned out to Bordeaux and shown some promising signs but he was again troubled by injuries and could never come back to Arsenal’s first team.
Debuchy eventually ended up joining Saint Ettiene on a free transfer last year. His career there, however, has turned out to be a success until now. He has started 30 times for the French outfit and has performed well in both attack and defense.
His goal involvements are nearly similar to Bellerin while his defensive awareness has also been very good.
#2 Gervinho
Many had touted Gervinho to become the next big thing when he joined Arsenal from Lille in 2011. Before joining the Gunners, Gervinho had scored 15 goals and had been a star player for the French club. However, he had a mixed debut season at the North London outfit and played mostly as a second fiddle in the subsequent season.
His declining game times then led Arsenal to sell him to AS Roma. Fortunately, his move to Roma was a success and became a turning point for his career. After two-and-a-half successful seasons at Serie A, Gervinho spent some time in the Chinese Super League before coming back to Italy in 2018.
Now the 31 years old is a star performer for the newly-promoted Parma. He has scored 9 goals this season, two of them are against Juventus in Serie A. Had Arsenal never let him left, the Gunners could have a much better winger than Iwobi.
#3 Serge Gnabry
Serge Gnabry is arguably Arsenal's biggest regret this season. The Germany winger has been such a sensation since he joined Bundesliga in 2016. He had promoted from the Gunners academy in 2012 but the 23 years old had only made 10 appearances in 4 years for the senior team.
Before being sold by the North London outfit, the starlet had been loaned out to then Premier League side West Bromwich without finding much success. However, his career has turned out 180 degrees since he moved to Werder Bremen for just £5 million.
Gnabry had found the net 11 times for Bremen in 2016/17 season and scored another 10 for Hoffenheim in the subsequent season. His excellent performance at both German clubs then led Bayern Munich to bought him for €10 million.
His dream career has now continued as he has scored 7 goals in 22 appearances for Bayern. Looking at his situation now, Gnabry could easily best all of Arsenal's current winger without further explanations.