Arsenal's 10 best transfers of all time

Martin Macdonald

• 7 Oct 2024 19:28 BST
• 7 min read

Arsenal may now be on the other side of Arsene Wenger's golden era at the club, but the Gunners remain one of the most attractive destinations in world football.

Mikel Arteta has brought the glory days back to north London, though tangible success in the form of major silverware has yet to arrive. Therefore, it is difficult to compare this current crop of players with the legends of the past.

Arsenal made some incredible signings in the 1990s and 2000s, purchasing some of the best talent the club - and the Premier League at large - has ever seen.

Football Transfers looks at Arsenal's 10 best transfers of the Premier League era…

10) Freddie Ljungberg - £3m from Halmstad, 1998

Wenger took the unusual - at the time - step of agreeing to buy Freddie Ljungberg without ever having seen him play live.

It was a friendly between Sweden and England which convinced the Arsenal boss to pay Halmstad £3m to land their star man.

The term 'big game player' gets thrown around a lot, but Ljungberg really was.

He scored in two FA Cup finals for Arsenal against Liverpool and Chelsea, and in the 2001/02 season, arguably his best, he scored vital goals against Manchester United and Liverpool in the run in.

A workhorse who made late runs into the box an art, he would eventually leave in 2007 as a cult hero among the Gunners fans.

9) Robert Pires - £6m from Marseille, 2000

France international Robert Pires was acquired from Marseille for £6 million in 2000.

He was signed to serve as a replacement for Marc Overmars, another impressive Gunners addition, who had since moved onto Barcelona for around £25m.

Pires, a player who simply oozed class on the ball, suffered a bit with the physicality of the league in his first year, but he came into his own in the second.

His popularity with supporters boosted by his uncanny knack to reserve his best performances for North London derbies against Tottenham Hotspur, he soon found his feet in England.

Pires scored nine top-flight goals and added a league-high 15 assists to help Arsenal to overhaul Man Utd to win the domestic double. It was the first of three consecutive peak years where he would make the PFA Team of the Year.

8) Gilberto Silva - £4.5m from Atletico Mineiro, 2002

While Brazil are renowned for the attacking talent they produce, in 2002 the creative players in Arsenal's team had the perfect Selecao anchorman to allow their attacking players to flourish.

Gilberto Silva had just won the 2002 World Cup with his country when Arsenal beat a host of clubs to win his signature and bring him to the Premier League.

Though a defensive midfielder, Gilberto was also capable of joining in the attack, such was his talent.

He would go on to form one of the best midfield partnerships in the history of the Premier League with Patrick Vieira, as the pair powered the Gunners to their Invincible season in 2004.

7) Sol Campbell - free transfer from Tottenham Hotspur, 2001

In what is still one of the most controversial transfers of all time, Sol Campbell jumped ship from Tottenham to arch rivals Arsenal on a free transfer in the summer of 2001.

Wanting to play Champions League football, Campbell made the decision to leave Spurs after rejecting a contract offer to become the highest paid player at White Hart Lane.

He was actually signed on the recommendation of some Arsenal players, who had previously mentioned to Wenger that Campbell was one of their toughest opponents in the league at the time.

He would be labelled as 'Judas' by Spurs fans, but it proved to be the right move for Campbell as he would go on to become one of the best centre-backs around, winning six major honours with the Gunners.

6) Mesut Ozil - £42m from Real Madrid, 2013

Mesut Ozil is on a small list of Arsenal players, post-2010, to warrant a 'world-class' label.

The gifted playmaker created chances with ease, with the Gunners' lack of attacking talent to blame for him not having higher assist tallies - even if he did manage 78 in his time in North London.

It is rare for a player to live up to such high expectations, but Ozil's class meant he was able to do that, and indeed exceed them.

Phased out towards the end, memories of the World Cup winner are tainted but his excellence will be remembered more fondly in years to come.

5) Robin van Persie - £2.75m from Feyenoord, 2004

Robin van Persie was signed in the summer of 2004 as a long-term replacement for his Dutch compatriot, Bergkamp.

Injuries and a silly red card against Southampton meant his first year was forgettable, but he would eventually find his feet in an Arsenal shirt in subsequent seasons.

Van Persie would come into his own after Thierry Henry left for Barcelona in 2007, becoming the undisputed main man up top.

He would go on to score 132 goals in 278 Premier League games for the club, but was forced to move onto pastures new after Arsenal couldn't meet his ambitions, as he joined Man Utd in 2012.

4) Dennis Bergkamp - £7.5m from Inter Milan, 1995

When Dennis Bergkamp failed to score in his first two months at Arsenal having joined from Inter for £7.5m - a huge fee at the time - the critics were already rounding on the Dutchman.

Fortunately, Arsenal showed patience and were rewarded tenfold, though it wasn’t until Wenger’s arrival in September 1996 that Bergkamp’s talents were fully realised.

Wenger built his side around Bergkamp’s creative abilities and he was able to cultivate three devastating partnerships too; with Ian Wright, then Nicolas Anelka and finally Henry.

His grace on the ball was unmatched, and yes, of course he meant that goal against Newcastle.

3) Cesc Fabregas - free transfer from Barcelona, 2003

Cesc Fabregas made the bold decision to leave Barcelona's La Masia at 16 to join Arsenal, and it was a choice that paid off for both the Spaniard and his new club.

In the 2003/04 season he would become the club's youngest ever appearance maker and also their youngest ever goalscorer. Unfortunately for him, he would not feature in enough games to earn a Premier League trophy, though.

The following season, he took advantage of injuries to key midfielders to fight his way into the team.

A creative genius and one of the best midfielders ever to grace the English top flight, Fabregas' performances truly deserved a league winners' medal, but his emergence, unfortunately, coincided with Arsenal's decline at the time.

2) Patrick Vieira - £3.5m from AC Milan, 1996

When Wenger arrived at Arsenal in 1996, few people know who he was, and they were even more perplexed at his first signing. Patrick Vieira had been languishing in AC Milan’s reserves the season prior having moved from Caen. His talents were clearly overlooked in Serie A.

The new Arsenal boss saw an opportunity. The result was one of the most seismic shifts in Premier League midfields at any point in history until that point.

Vieira arrived like an alien specimen. His tall frame and long gait combined with a passing range that made for an amalgamation of skills unlike any seen before, and he immediately took to every aspect of his new league.

Vieira won three Premier League titles and captained Arsenal to their 'Invincibles' season in 2004, while his running feud with Man Utd's Roy Keane became legendary in English football.

1) Thierry Henry - £11m from Juventus, 1999

Not many would’ve predicted how the signing of winger Thierry Henry from Juventus in the summer of 1999 would transform Arsenal into the new millennium, but Wenger certainly knew the untapped potential that lay within the 1998 World Cup winner.

Henry’s arrival in England wasn’t all plain-sailing. He struggled to find form in the early going, and didn’t find the back of the net until his eighth game of the season, away to Southampton. Yet after that he never looked back. The goals and assists flooded in, and so too did the trophies.

He morphed from an inconsistent winger into one of the most feared strikers in Europe under Wenger, and in his time at the club won two Premier League titles and two FA Cups.

He is without doubt the greatest player in the history of the club.