Wenger 1000: Arsene's bargain XI

Holding Midfield: Emmanuel Petit (£2.5m)

The ponytailed French midfielder became something of a cult hero at Arsenal in his three years at the club, being a major part in two title successes at Highbury.

The midfield enforcer provided the backbone to the side along with Patrick Vieira that you feel they have missed since he left, with his steely, no-nonsense style of play combined with a dashing French flair crucial to Arsenal’s silverware haul.

Holding Midfield: Patrick Vieira (£3.5m)

Another player that was greeted with a bemused shrug when he came over from AC Milan as Wenger implemented his foreign revolution, but has since gone on to become a player of legendary proportions in the Premier League era.

Tall and elegant, Vieira was the driving force of all that was good about Arsenal for nine years in which he chalked up 279 appearances with his effortless box-to-box style.

He won three titles while an Arsenal player before opting to test his hand somewhere new, but will always be remembered as a true hero to Arsenal fans, especially since he scored the goal that eventually sealed Arsenal’s title victory at White Hart Lane.

Central Midfield: Cesc Fabregas (£2.25m)

Fabregas was just a kid when he arrived at Arsenal, but has emerged to become one of the finest midfielders in world football since undergoing the tutelage of Wenger.

Signed for a relatively pricey £2.25m from Barcelona’s academy in a controversial move, he soon established himself as a key member of the Arsenal side from the age of 17 before eventually being lured back to Catalan country for a cool £35m.

The Spaniard now has Primera Liga, European Championships and a World Cup winners’ medal to his name after failing to win a trophy at the Gunners, but he will always be remembered fondly for the way he often carried Arsenal at times, despite his young years of age.

Fabregas is currently leading the assist chart in any of Europe’s top five leagues this season, having created 12 goals for Barcelona.

Right Wing: Freddie Ljungberg (£3m)

Ljungberg arrived at Arsenal completely unheralded in England when he arrived from Halmstads in Sweden, but became a cult hero for Gunners’ fans after a glittering career in which he won all domestic trophies on offer.

The Swede made 328 league appearances for the Gunners in a career that spanned nine years in North London and is Arsenal’s fifth highest goalscorer under Wenger’s regime, having netted 72 goals as one of their key offensive midfielders.