Arsenal's five worst January transfers of all time

Cameron Smith

• 1 Feb 2025 23:30 CST
• 4 min read

Arsenal have conducted a host of January transfers during recent years, with the Gunners achieving varying degrees of success with such signings.

For the most part, their mid-season business has been fairly successful, but some signings simply didn’t work out.

Below, FootballTransfers runs through Arsenal’s five worst January transfers of all time.

READ MORE: Arsenal's five most expensive January transfers of all time

Glenn Helder - €3.9m (from Vitesse Arnhem, 1995)

After 18 months at Vitesse Arnhem, Arsenal took a punt on Dutch winger Glenn Helder and they paid €3.9m to bring him to the club in 1995.

However, Helder only scored one goal in 49 appearances for the Gunners and he was loaned out to Benfica in late 1996, before joining NAC Breda on a permanent deal the following year.

Helder’s career petered out after leaving Arsenal, with the Dutchman featuring for the likes of Dalian Wanda FC and MTK Hungaria FC.

READ MORE: Arsenal's five best January transfers of all time

Wellington Silva - €4m (from Fluminense, 2011)

Wellington Silva was one of the best trialists in Arsenal’s history and he earned a move to the club after scoring four goals for Gunners’ U16 side against Norwich.

However, the Brazilian soon encountered work permit issues and he was loaned out to five different Spanish clubs in the space of just four years.

Another loan spell followed, this time at Bolton Wanderers, before Wellington was sold back to Fluminense in 2016, having never made a senior appearance for Arsenal.

Gabriel Paulista - €15m (from Villarreal, 2015)

Gabriel Paulista joined Arsenal for €15m in 2015, but his two-and-a-half year spell at the club featured very few highlights.

The Brazilian rotated with Shkodran Mustafi for a place alongside Laurent Koscielny in Arsenal's backline and he never established himself as a dependable centre-back during his time in north London.

Gabriel was sold to Valencia for €11m in 2017 and his time at Arsenal has been largely forgotten.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan - €34m (from Man Utd, 2018)

Henrikh Mkhitaryan was involved in one of the most high-profile swap deals in Premier League history, with Alexis Sanchez moving in the opposite direction.

A foot injury hampered Mkhitaryan’s first full campaign at Arsenal and after a season-long loan spell at AS Roma, he subsequently joined the Serie A side on a free transfer in 2020.

The Armenian made just 59 appearances for Arsenal and considering Sanchez’s immense form at the Emirates Stadium, this deal was a poor one for all involved.

Pablo Mari - Loan (from Flamengo, 2020)

Arsenal paid an €8m loan fee to sign Pablo Mari in January 2020, while an additional €6m was spent to make the deal permanent in July.

Mari only played 22 times for Arsenal before being loaned to Udinese in January 2022. After a subsequent temporary spell at Monza, he joined the Serie A side for €6.2m in 2023.

All in all, the signing of Mari was a fairly pointless endeavour.