Every player who played for Arsenal and Chelsea in the Premier League era ranked | OneFootball

One of the oldest derbies in English football is set to come around again this weekend in the Premier League. Arsenal travel from north to west London on Saturday afternoon to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, with both sides needing wins for very different reasons.

The Gunners have made a superb start to the 2023/24 campaign, and are back at the top of the table like they were last time out. Level on points with north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, who face Fulham on Monday night, Mikel Arteta’s side have the opportunity to claim top spot this weekend.

Chelsea, meanwhile, have had a less glamorous start to the new season, and find themselves 11th after some poor results. Their form had been improving before the international break, though, and Mauricio Pochettino will want the Blues to make it four wins on the spin in all competitions.

But the fixture is significant for certain players too. For Jorginho and Kai Havertz, it will be the first time that they return to Stamford Bridge since making moves to the Emirates in January and June respectively. Both helped Chelsea achieve huge amounts of success during their time in west London, and it will be interesting to see what kind of reception they receive from the fans who used to cheer them on every week.

They are not the only two players to feature for both teams, though. So, ahead of the fixture, we have ranked every player who has played for both teams from worst to best, including the two new boys.

Just to be clear, we are only factoring in what players accomplished at the two clubs in question. But even with that warning, there will definitely be some of you who think we have butchered this list. Be sure to let us know what changes you would make in our social media comments. But let’s get into the rankings now, shall we…

14 Yossi Benayoun

There was only one place we could start, and that’s with Benayoun. A decent footballer for Liverpool and West Ham, but one who never had much luck in north or west London. He joined the Blues from Liverpool in 2010, and there was cause for optimism when he scored one of the best pre-season goals ever. But he ruptured his achilles against Newcastle in the League Cup in September, and when he returned the following year, he found chances limited, moving to Arsenal on loan in August 2011. In 25 appearances for the Gunners, he had a decent record of six goals and three assists, not bad numbers for a loan player. Impressively, he managed to play more games, score more goals and create more goals for his loan side than he ever managed for Chelsea.

13 Lassana Diarra

Despite making fewer appearances than Benayoun for the two clubs, we think Diarra just has a slight edge because of his time in west London. The French midfielder signed for Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea in 2005 but suffered from having several star midfielders ahead of him in the pecking order. In fairness, there’s not much you can do when Claude Makelele and Frank Lampard are at the club. Nevertheless, he still managed to win Chelsea’s Young Player of the Season award in 05/06. Like Benayoun, he was only bit-part player at the Bridge, sealing a move to Arsenal in 2007 in search of more regular football, but didn’t find it in north London. After just five months, he was on the move again, leaving Arsenal for Portsmouth, before then moving to Real Madrid in 2009.

12 Willian

Now, this is where it gets tricky. Don’t get us wrong, Willian was an absolute baller for Chelsea over the course of seven years. Fans loved him to bits, singing his name every time he was on the ball and every time he rattled in a goal. With the Blues having him on one side and Eden Hazard on the other for much of the 2010s, they had one of the best winger pairings in the league, and because of that, they won several trophies together. But while his time in west London was brilliant, his time at the Emirates was much bleaker. A promising start quickly gave way to extended time on the bench and limited opportunities. After just 12 months, he was out the door and returned to Brazil. You know it’s been a stinker of a transfer when a player admits he wanted to leave the club after just three months…

11 Kai Havertz

It feels wrong to put Havertz this low given that he won Chelsea their second Champions League on that memorable night in Porto. But after becoming a star at Bayer Leverkusen, he never really found a degree of consistency at Stamford Bridge. Sure, there were some good performances and 32 goals to shout about as well, but fans became frustrated with the German as time went on. He’s hardly hit the ground running at the Emirates either, with journalist Paul Brown saying that fans ‘wish’ they had signed James Maddison instead. That Champions League win with Chelsea is the main reason he is this high, but that can only take you so far. There’s plenty of time for him to get back to the heights he achieved in his Leverkusen days, though, so maybe he will rank higher by the time he leaves north London.

10 William Gallas

Let’s not forget just how good Gallas was at Stamford Bridge. A key player both before and during the Roman Abramovich era, the French defender was key to Chelsea’s success under Jose Mourinho in 2004/05 and then again the following season. However, his relationship with the club then turned sour, with reports stating that he had threatened to score an own goal if selected, something which he rejected after joining Arsenal. He continued to be a reliable choice under Arsene Wenger, and left the Emirates after making 142 appearances… for Tottenham! No loyalty to any of the London clubs. A decent option for sure, but he’s not better than the other players above him.

9 Jorginho

He might not have been universally loved by Chelsea fans, but Jorginho was a consistent and mostly excellent presence in the Blues’ engine room for nearly five years. Following Maurizio Sarri from Napoli, the Italian quickly became indispensable and went on to feature heavily under every manager who then arrived at Stamford Bridge. His performances were key to Chelsea winning several pieces of European silverware, including the Europa League and Champions League. His performances in the latter also helped him to win the UEFA Best Player in Europe award. With Chelsea looking to re-build in midfield, though, he left for Arsenal in January this year and has become a decent squad option for Arteta in the middle of the park.

8 David Luiz

Loved by Chelsea fans, maybe less so by Arsenal fans. Chaos was never far away when Luiz was on the pitch, but he was a great defender for the Blues, putting in a masterclass in the 2012 Champions League final. Two stints at Stamford Bridge either side of two years at Paris Saint-Germain brought trophies and entertainment. The latter certainly was present while he was at the Emirates. The former too, but nowhere near as much. At times, Luiz was a decent defender for the Gunners, but he also frustrated supporters too, picking up three red cards along the way. He's had a better career at both clubs than those below him on this list, but we'd be stretching it if we placed him any higher.

7 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

This might be controversially high, especially because Aubameyang’s time at Chelsea was nothing short of disastrous. He joined on deadline day, eager to link up again with Thomas Tuchel, but the German coach was sacked after Auba’s first game. What followed was a series of poor performances, extensive stints on the bench, just one league goal, and a move to Marseille this summer. Horror.

Why then does he rank this high? If you cast your mind back to his time at Arsenal, you’ll remember the real Aubameyang. One of Arsene Wenger’s final signings at Arsenal, the striker scored goals for fun and was someone who became the key player at the Emirates for several years before he left under a cloud for Barcelona. A Golden Boot winner in 2018/19, he would be so much higher on this list had he reached the same heights for Arsenal’s rivals.

6 Olivier Giroud

From one striker to another. Although this one had slightly better fortunes on both sides of London than the aforementioned Aubameyang. Giroud was never the lethal heir to Thierry Henry that some Arsenal fans might have hoped for, but there were some excellent finishes in there which helped Arsenal win three FA Cups. We don’t need any invitation to show his scorpion kick again.

Chelsea fans might have been sceptical when they signed him in 2018, but by the end of his career at Stamford Bridge in 2021, he was loved by all. Scorer of many an important goal, like that bicycle kick against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, he has arguably been the Blues’ most reliable centre-forward option in recent years since Diego Costa. Adding a Champions League and a Europa League winners medal too, he deserves to be this high up.

5 Emmanuel Petit

What a player this guy was in the middle of the park for the Gunners. Alongside Patrick Vieira, Petit had a debut season to remember in his first year in London, winning the domestic double under Wenger. That proved to be the former Monaco man’s only league title in England, though, with Arsenal finishing second twice before Petit swapped London for Barcelona. However, after one season, he was back in the capital, this time with London rivals Chelsea, playing alongside a young Lampard at the Bridge. He was an excellent option for the Blues for three years, but he played just four times in his last season as injuries began to take their toll.

4 Nicolas Anelka

A wonderkid at Arsenal, and a goal machine at Chelsea. Anelka is certainly one of the better players to ply his trade at both clubs. A PFA Young Player of the Year in north London, his talent was clear for all to see, but he was branded “Le Sulk” by his own fans before he left. Not that he had much to sulk about when he eventually ended up at Chelsea, though. A Golden Boot winner in 2008/09, a Premier League the following year, and FA Cups in both campaigns. Lining up with club legend Didier Drogba, the duo became one of the most feared striker partnerships in the league during the late 2000s. Chelsea fans wish they had him leaving the line now.

3 Petr Cech

One of the best goalkeepers that the Premier League has ever seen has to settle for a bronze medal here. He won’t like that one bit. Cech was a key reason why Chelsea still hold the record for fewest goals conceded in a single Premier League season, and pulled off hundreds of remarkable saves during his 11 years at Stamford Bridge. When it became clear that Thibaut Courtois was the new number one, though, he moved on to Arsenal in his old age. He was past his prime there, but still a reliable option when called upon. Adding another Golden Glove award to his cabinet in 2015/16 and then an FA Cup the following year, he eventually set the record for most Premier League clean sheets while in north London. A brick wall for both teams.

2 Cesc Fabregas

This top two is set in stone, and there will definitely be those who believe the midfielder deserves to be top of this list. The only reason why he isn’t is because of that gap at Barcelona between the two clubs. But back to English teams. Fabregas, often considered to be one of the best Spaniards to play in the Premier League, was magical to watch in Arsenal’s midfield as a youngster, playing defence-splitting passes with ease. The affinity he built up with the club’s fans ended in heartbreak when he re-joined Barcelona in 2011, but the tears quickly led to anger when he signed for rivals Chelsea three years later. He strutted his stuff in England once again, producing one of the best assists fans have ever seen for Andre Schurrle against Burnley.

1 Ashley Cole

But of course, we just had to go with one of the Premier League’s best left-backs ever at number one. Cole was a young prodigy for Arsenal, becoming integral to their 2001/02 Premier League win and then again in their iconic Invincible season. He was recognised by the club and fans as one of the best defenders in the world, becoming Cristiano Ronaldo’s toughest opponent by locking him up at Euro 2004, but two years later, he tarnished his reputation when he moved to Chelsea, earning the name ‘Cashley’ Cole. The unhappy Gallas went the other way, but it was definitely Chelsea who got the better deal. Cole picked up exactly where he left off, cementing his status as one of the league’s best defenders during his eight years as a Blue.