The incredible starting XI of players sold by Arsenal

Forwards - Olivier Giroud (Chelsea), Alexis Sanchez (Manchester United) and Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich)

Sanchez and Giroud left Arsenal in January 2018

The three forwards in this XI left Arsenal for different reasons but they play for a top European club nevertheless.

Olivier Giroud joined Arsenal in 2012 as a replacement for Robin van Persie and throughout his Arsenal career, Giroud split opinion. Nevertheless, he still scored 105 goals in 253 games for the Gunners before joining Chelsea in January 2018.

The Frenchman left Arsenal in search of regular playing time as Arsenal had Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Danny Welbeck as striking options.

Giroud won the FA Cup and Community Shield thrice each with Arsenal before winning the FA Cup again with Chelsea in his debut season. He also led the France attack at the 2018 FIFA World Cup which they won.

Alexis Sanchez also left Arsenal in January 2018 but he departed Arsenal because he wanted to join a club where he would be paid more and could also further his ambitions. However, that hasn’t worked out well for the Chilean.

Alexis played 166 games for Arsenal scoring 80 goals winning the FA Cup twice. He was in the final year of his contract last season and Arsenal opted to swap him for Henrikh Mkhitaryan in January rather than lose the player for free a few months later.

The 29-year-old has struggled following his move to Manchester United and has scored just thrice in 19 games so far.

Gnabry scored a hat-trick on his debut for Germany

The final player in this XI left Arsenal in 2016 because he failed to break into the first team.

Serge Gnabry joined the Arsenal youth system in 2011 and made his professional debut a year later. Between 2012 and 2015, he played 18 games for Arsenal scoring once before joining West Brom on loan for the 2015/16 season.

The loan stint with West Brom didn’t benefit the player as he played just one league game. The following season, he left Arsenal on a permanent basis to join Werder Bremen.

Gnabry scored 11 times in 27 games for Bremen and also made his senior debut for Germany that year. He marked his debut for Germany with a hat-trick.

The German was signed by Bayern Munich ahead of the 2017/18 season and was immediately loaned out to Hoffenheim for a season. After an impressive spell on loan with Hoffenheim during which he scored 10 times in 26 games, the 23-year-old is now back at Bayern Munich as a first-team player.

Honourable mentions: Lucas Perez (West Ham), Joel Campbell (Frosinone), Theo Walcott (Everton), Lukas Podolski (Vissel Kobe), Carlos Vela (Los Angeles FC), Robin van Persie (Feyenoord) and Emmanuel Adebayor (İstanbul Başakşehir)

The XI featuring players sold/released by Arsenal