Arsenal have built a reputation for themselves as a club that goes to great pains to develop talented youngsters into superstars and then parts ways with them when a richer club comes calling. While some have claimed that the process has helped Arsene Wenger field a competitive side year after year, despite the club’s limited financial resources, a larger section of their fans believe that the process has weakened the side year after year and expressed their disappointment in the transfer handlings of their manager.
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Yes, it is true that several of them have gone to become key players for other clubs, sometimes even rivals and have come back to hurt the club. However, several of them have lost their rhythm and have slipped down the order in footballing obscurity.
In this segment, we take a look at 5 former Arsenal superstars who are struggling to find their feet.
#1 Emmanuel Adebayor
The Togo international was once a beloved figure at Arsenal, largely due to his contributions in front of the goal for his club, finding the back of the net on 62 occasions in 142 appearances. However, that changed quickly, when Adebayor decided that it was time to move from North London to Manchester to join the up and coming Manchester City and subsequently celebrated scoring against his former club by running the length of the pitch to express his joy in front of travelling Arsenal fans.
While he did go on to feature for the likes of Real Madrid and Tottenham post his one and a half year stint with Manchester City, Adebayor failed to replicate his performances for much of his subsequent career and is currently a free agent, after being released by his latest club Crystal Palace at the end of the last season.
While he could prove to be a handy player for a number of clubs across Europe, clubs have so far resisted signing the often polarising figure of Adebayor. Perhaps, one could be tempted to say that it is the curse of Arsenal fans that has derailed his career.
#2 Samir Nasri
Another player who switched Arsenal for the cash-rich Manchester City is Samir Nasri. The French midfielder, who is renowned for his playmaking abilities began life on a sound note post joining City in 2011, winning the Premier League in his first season as well as in 2013-14. However, he has found life harder post the 2013-14 season after being restricted to a bit-part role at the club.
Nasri featured just 41 times over the course of the next two season, largely owing to an injury. The 29-year-old is currently spending the season on loan at Sevilla, seeking to resurrect his flailing career as a footballer. And the move seems to be paying rich dividends so far for the player as he has featured in 5 games and capped it up with 2 goals and 1 assist to help his side climb to the third spot in the La Liga table.
The Frenchman’s contract at Manchester City runs until the end of the 2018-19 season. While the player does seem hungry to come back to England to prove his worth to the new manager Pep Guardiola, it seems highly unlikely that we will see him in City’s light blue colours again due to the presence of numerous quality players in the squad.
#3 Robin van Persie
The Dutchman was phenomenal at Arsenal and went on to achieve greater things at Manchester United, his subsequent club, playing a crucial role in his side’s last Premier League winning campaign in 2012-13. While he might not have received as much stick as the aforementioned players, a certain section of the Arsenal faithful believed that Van Persie could be the lynchpin around whom Wenger could build a league winning squad and he had been Selfish to make the move to Manchester United.
Van Persie, who scored 132 goals in 277 appearances for Arsenal during his 9 years at the club continued to find the back of the net at a prolific frequency at Old Trafford, scoring 58 goals in 105 appearances.
However, with age catching up with him, Van Persie soon saw his playing time curtailed at the club and was finally allowed to leave the club for Fenerbahce at the end of the 2014-15 season. While Fenerbahce do remain an elite club in Turkey, they certainly do not match the footballing greatness of Manchester United or even Arsenal and we believe his goal scoring instincts could still prove to be a game-changer for numerous mid-table clubs in the league.
#4 Alex Song
Many pundits believe that Wenger’s biggest mistake in recent years was not letting his attackers go, but letting a solid Alex Song swap Arsenal for Barcelona at the end of the 2011-12 season. The Ivory Coast International had it all in his locker to function as a destroyer in the midfield, a commodity Arsenal seem to have lacked on numerous occasions over the years.
Song displayed an ability to dish out top draw performances in the middle of the park at the club, combining his sheer athleticism and physicality with footballing intelligence to shut out the opposition and was destined for a longer tenure at the club. However, when the Catalan giants came calling in August 2015, Wenger deemed that the price being offered for the player (£15 million) far exceeded his market value and decided to let him leave and it has taken Arsenal several years to replace him fully at the club.
However, Song himself has not had a great time after moving to Barcelona as he was extensively used as a centre-back and soon he was on the move again, this time on a loan to West Ham, who decided to retain his services for 2 years. However, he was used in a bit part role by West Ham during his 2015-16 season and soon decided that a permanent move away from Barcelona would do his football some good.
The player currently plays for Russian club Rubin Kazan and despite being only 29 years of age, which is fairly competitive for a midfielder, he has seen his career go down the hill over the last few seasons.
#5 Alexander Hleb
The Belarusian midfielder, who was once tipped for footballing greatness due to impact the results of the game as an attacker has seen his career turn into a travel catalogue since leaving Arsenal in 2008. Following his exploits with Stuttgart in the Bundesliga, Hleb arrived at Arsenal’s previous home, Highbury at the beginning of the 2005-06 season and immediately installed himself as a key figure under the aegis of Arsene Wenger with his creative displays.
During his three years in the North London, the midfielder featured in 129 games for the club. When the European heavyweights Barcelona came calling for the then 27-year-old at the end of 2007-08 season, neither Arsenal, who were offered a cumulative fee of € 17 million, nor Hleb were able to resist the temptation to make the move.
However, the move did not yield the desired result for either Hleb or Barcelona as within a year of joining the Catalan giants, he was deemed excess to the club’s requirement and spent the rest of his days on Barcelona books out on loan to Stuttgart, Birmingham and Wolfsburg. With injuries playing spoilsport on numerous occasions, the once exciting player soon turned into nothing more than a squad player.
He moved to Krylia Sovetov Samara in January 2012 and has since had stints with BATE Borisov, Konyaspor and Gençlerbirlii.
The 35-year-old is currently playing for BATE Borisov in Belarus and we wonder if not for a move that did not work in his favour and numerous injuries that hampered his progress, Hleb could have gone on to become one of the elite footballers in Europe.
