Arsenal: Arsene Wenger's final 10 signings at The Emirates - Where Are They Now? | OneFootball

Highlights

Arsene Wenger is one of the greatest managers the Premier League has ever seen, with the French boss spending more than two decades as the figurehead at Arsenal. In that time, many players came and went while the manager remained the one constant at the North London club.

In the early years he spent at the club, Wenger was a master in the transfer market as he regularly brought in young players that were relatively unknown, and developed them into world beaters. Moving into the final years of his managerial career however, that was not always the case, so we take a look at the last ten signings made by Wenger and where they have ended up.

10 Granit Xhaka

The Swiss midfielder was brought in during the summer transfer window in 2016 with a view to being the Gunners' long-term solution to their defensive midfield problems. Wenger's plan to build the midfield with Xhaka at the base was perhaps ill-advised with the player struggling to adapt under the Frenchman.

After getting his career back on track, the Switzerland captain was a revelation during Mikel Arteta's Arsenal team in 2022/23 as a box-to-box midfielder, modifying his game to become a vital part of the side that came very close to securing a first Premier League title for almost two decades. Xhaka left in the summer transfer window as he moved back to Germany with Bayer Leverkusen to be an important member of Xabi Alonso's high-flying team.

9 Takuma Asano

Japanese forward - Asano - was brought in as someone Wenger could develop and mould into a Premier League player. This did not pan out however, as he was denied a work permit to play in the competition and sent out on loan subsequently. After two separate loan spells in Germany, the Japan international was moved on permanently to Partizan Belgrade in Serbia having never played for the Gunners.

Asano currently plies his trade for Bundesliga outfit VfL Bochum - this has been his home for two years now after signing on a free transfer in 2021. He was a goal scorer in his nation's huge World Cup upset against Germany in late 2022.

8 Rob Holding

Holding came through the youth set-up at Bolton Wanderers and went on to make 26 Championship appearances for the club before being snapped up by Arsenal as a 20-year-old. Wenger had high hopes for the defender, who made his debut at the beginning of the 2016/17 season in a home defeat against Liverpool.

In the years that followed, the Englishman spent the majority of his time as a back-up option, most recently called upon during the run-in of the 2022/23 season in the place of an injured William Saliba. After seven campaigns at the Emirates, the now 28-year-old decided it was time to depart the club in search of regular game time. Crystal Palace swooped in to bring Holding to Selhurst Park for a nominal fee, although he is still currently trying to fight his way into the first-team picture.

7 Lucas Pérez

Another player brought in during the 2016 summer transfer window, fans thought Perez was coming in to give some real competition for Olivier Giroud's starting spot at the tip of the spear for Wenger's team. He only lasted one season however, before being shipped out on loan to Deportivo la Coruna - where he was originally signed from.

The Spaniard moved to West Ham on a permanent deal in 2018 directly from Arsenal, but would only last a single season once again before returning to Spain. Perez is now 35 years old and playing for Deportivo once again after spending time with several other La Liga sides.

6 Shkodran Mustafi

As a former Everton youth player, Mustafi returned to England in 2016 after a successful spell in Spain with Valencia. A big money move to Arsenal looked set to be a huge step in the right direction for Wenger as the French manager looked to solidify his back line. Instead of the confident, consistent player that performed so well in La Liga, the Gunners got a defender that was full of errors and fragile on confidence.

Following five less than impressive seasons in the Premier League, Mustafi headed back to his homeland with Schalke where he spent six months. Levante snapped the German up on a free transfer after the expiry of this contract, although injuries plagued his spell with the Spanish club. Mustafi finds himself as a free agent at the age of 31 following his release from Levante in the summer.

5 Sead Kolasinac

Kolasinac was signed as a free transfer at the beginning of what turned out to be Wenger's final year in the Emirates dug-out with the Bosnian joining from Schalke in the Bundesliga. The versatile defender played as a centre-back, left-back and even wing-back for Arsenal during his five-year stay with the club, but never cemented himself as a first-team regular.

He returned to Schalke in 2021 for the remainder of the 2020/21 campaign alongside Mustafi, but the club were unfortunately relegated to the second tier of German football. After spending the first-half of the 2021/22 season on the bench, he finally left Arsenal to join Marseille. Kolasinac has recently signed a contract as a new Atalanta player.

4 Alexandre Lacazette

Brought in as a prolific Ligue 1 goalscorer from Lyon in 2017, many believed Wenger would have a big impact on taking Lacazette's game to the next level. The forward had been linked with several Premier League sides in the years leading up to this move with huge expectations growing around the French forward.

Over 200 appearances for the Gunners saw the striker bag 71 goals as he proved to be a good player, but not quite clinical enough to be viewed as a top forward in the English top flight. Lacazette returned to Lyon in 2022 and picked up where he left of with the French outfit as he scored 27 league goals in his first season back.

3 Konstantinos Mavropanos

Mavropanos has recently returned to London, but this time with West Ham as David Moyes' side wrapped up a deal to bring the Greek centre-back to the Premier League once again. Remarkably, the 25-year-old only left Arsenal officially 12 months prior to his move to the Hammers.

Not much has been seen of the defender in England in recent years, as he spent the majority of his tenure with the Gunners out on loan to firstly Nurenburg and then Stuttgart. Mavropanos joined the latter on a permanent deal ahead of the 2022/23 campaign, and impressed enough to catch the eye of West Ham.

2 Henrikh Mkhitaryan

Despite impressing in his three years at Borussia Dortmund, things never really worked out for Mkhitaryan in the Premier League in his spells at Manchester United and Arsenal. Involved in a swap deal that saw Alexis Sanchez head to Old Trafford in January 2018, he had big shoes to fill at the Emirates.

The Armenia international failed to make a lasting impression with the Gunners as he was moved on to Roma after scoring nine goals in 59 games. Mkhitaryan is still playing in Serie A, and even featured in the Champions League final last year as Inter Milan were narrowly beaten by Manchester City.

1 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

The only player on this list to hit the ground running was Wenger's last ever signing for the club, as Aubameyang came in from Borussia Dortmund as a clinical finisher. He showed this during his stay with the North London side by finding the back of the net 92 times in 163 games, giving him a better goal record than one in two.

Disciplinary issues were the end for Aubameyang with the club in 2022 as Arteta decided it was time to move on as a club without the Gabon forward. He subsequently moved to Barcelona for the remainder of the season before returning to England, this time with Chelsea. The 34-year-old is now playing for Marseille after scoring only one league goal during his 12 months back in the Premier League.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang career stats ahead of 2023/24 season