WTF was that about? When Arsenal signed FIVE on crazy deadline day 🤪 | OneFootball

Glance way back to August 2011 and you’ll find that Arsenal had just sold Cesc Fàbregas and Samir Nasri, yet things were about to get a whole lot worse.

Days before the transfer window closed, the Gunners lost 8-2 at Old Trafford.

The squad was lacking both quality and depth, with Robin van Persie carrying an enormous burden on his shoulders.

So Arsenal got busy.

Pre-deadline day

The summer started with regular starter Gaël Clichy and versatile squad player Emmanuel Eboué leaving for Manchester City and Galatasaray respectively. Cesc Fàbregas, as expected, followed to join Barcelona. And then Samir Nasri, refusing to extend his contract with just one year remaining, forced his move to City through after playing in Arsenal’s second game of the season.

Denilson and Nicklas Bendtner left too, albeit on loan, after years as trusted squad members.

There were some incomings. Ivorian winger Gervinho joined from Lille and Arsenal spent big on teenager Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but he wasn’t expected to have much of an impact right away.

Well, with the squad so thin, he actually ended up featuring at Old Trafford on 28 August. Alongside the likes of summer signing Carl Jenkinson (19), Francis Coquelin (19), Henri Lansbury (20) and Armand Traoré (21).

Unused on the bench that day were teenagers Ignasi Miquel, Oğuzhan Özyakup and Gilles Sunu. Something had to change.

One point from the opening three games of the season was an historically poor return under Wenger.

The Gunners had at least won their Champions League play-off against Udinese. And that meant there was some money available, it just wasn’t available until the very last week of the window …

And then 31 August arrived, and Arsenal needed players. They got them. Five in total.

The hits

The biggest, and most successful, two were Mikel Arteta and Per Mertesacker from Everton and Werder Bremen respectively.

But Arsenal didn’t truly want either. The Gunners had rejected the chance to sign Mertesacker earlier in the summer.

In the case of Arteta, Arsenal called Everton hoping to strike a deal for Marouane Fellaini, then had a bid accepted for Arteta, then cancelled the deal because of his salary. Arteta’s agent, on the player’s instruction, called the club back and he took a pay cut to move to north London.

The pair would become crucial, instilling a much-needed positive team atmosphere and sense of togetherness at London Colney. To two experienced outsiders, it was a shock to see how fragmented the dressing room was.

Both players would go on to become Arsenal captain and now essentially run the football side of the club as head coach (Arteta) and academy manager (Mertesacker).

In hindsight, signing them for a combined sum of around €24m was an absolute masterstroke.

They weren’t the only successes. To the surprise of pretty much everyone, the Gunners also completed a one-year loan deal to sign Yossi Benayoun from Chelsea. And he was a hit!

Benayoun’s elegant style meant he fit in well at the Emirates and his incredible work ethic meant he became integral in the second half of the season.

The Israeli started just once in the Premier League before Christmas but made 10 starts in Arsenal’s last 21 outings, scoring three times in the final five games. Another surprisingly successful deal.

The misses

But it wasn’t all glory. André Santos, pretty much unheard of in England, joined from Fenerbahçe. The Brazilian left-back brought a promise of attacking, adventurous football. And he delivered that, scoring crucial goals against Chelsea and then, on the final day, West Brom.

However, he caught the wrath of the fans in his second season, when he swapped shirts with Robin van Persie at half-time of the Dutchman’s first game against Arsenal for Manchester United.

Not a great move.

The bigger problem was, Santos out of shape, missed almost half the season after an ankle operaton and he couldn’t really defend all that well. It’s no accident that, after leaving the club, he went on to feature as a number 10 during stints in Switzerland and his native Brazil.

And then there was the curious case of Park Chu-young. Set to join Lille from Monaco, Park heard of Arsenal’s interest on 30 August and was swept away from his hotel room during a medical with Lille. Without telling them he was leaving.

The next day, he joined the Gunners. Much to Lille’s frustration. He bizarrely started a Champions League match against Marseille but featured in the Premier League for JUST EIGHT MINUTES as a sub against, for some reason, MANCHESTER UNITED.

In seven first team appearances, he scored once, a lovely curled effort against Bolton in the League Cup.

To say Arsenal’s deadline day endeavours were a mixed bag would be something of an understatement but they did at least prove that so-called ‘panic buys’ don’t always have to work out terribly. Just sometimes.