Rating Arsenal's FIVE veteran signings since 2015

Stuart Telford

• 2 Feb 2023 20:03 GMT
• 4 min read

New Arsenal midfielder Jorginho turned 31 in December, which got FootballTransfers thinking about other veteran players the Gunners have signed in recent seasons…

Arsenal completed Jorginho's signing from Chelsea on transfer deadline day, the Italy international arriving for an initial £10 million with a further £2m to follow in add-ons.

Previously a European champion with Chelsea and Italy, Jorginho could one day top a list like this, and that will certainly be the hope of Gunners fans after they missed out on Brighton's Moises Caicedo.

READ: How Arsenal will line up with Jorginho

Jorginho's the sixth 30-plus player to arrive at the Emirates since 2015. How have the other five done?

5) Willian (32 when he joined from Chelsea in 2020)

Jorginho's former Blues teammate Willian swapped Chelsea for Arsenal on a free transfer in the summer of 2020 having won two Premier Leagues among his five major honours during his time at Stamford Bridge.

A winger often credited for his hard work as much as his flair, Willian bagged a pair of assists on his Arsenal debut as they beat Fulham 3-0, but he only went on to score once in 37 games and later described his move as "the worst time [he] had lived as a professional."

READ: Arsenal's 10 most expensive transfers of all time

4) Stephan Lichtsteiner (34 when he joined from Juventus in 2018)

Stephan Lichtsteiner had been one of the game's best right-backs during his seven-year stay with Juventus, but the "Swiss Express" was beginning to run out of steam by the time he got to Arsenal, arriving, like Willian, on a Bosman, in in 2018.

Played second fiddle to Hector Bellerin in his only full season in North London under Unai Emery and left on another free transfer to Augsburg the following year.

3) Sokratis Papastathopoulos (30 when he joined from Dortmund in 2018)

Sokratis was only a month on from his 30th birthday when he signed for Arsenal, the Gunners paying Borussia Dortmund a healthy €16m fee for his services.

A YouTube favourite for his slide tackles in Germany, those were often the result of the Greek's poor positioning, but he did at least get his game at centre-back for Arsenal for two seasons, lifting the FA Cup along the way. Susequently sold to Olympiacos, where he remains.

2) David Luiz (32 when he joined from Chelsea in 2019)

Another centre-back, and if not the best defender, certainly a fine footballer. David Luiz joined from Chelsea for an £8m fee having won the Premier League and Champions Leagues across two spells with the Blues.

Luiz inherited the No.23 jersey once worn by Sol Campbell, and although he never scaled the same heights as that Arsenal Invincible, he did at least win an FA Cup and Community Shield before returning to Brazil with Flamengo in 2021.

1) Petr Cech (33 when he joined from Chelsea in 2015)

Petr Cech, like a number of other players in this list, enjoyed his best football at Chelsea, but the long-time Czech Republic No.1 still had a lot to give when he joined Arsenal in a £10m deal in the summer of 2015.

Racked up 139 games for the Gunners, keeping 54 clean sheets in the process, before bowing out with a cruel loss to his former club in the Europa League final of 2019, for which man outlets awarded him a Man of the Match performance.