All about the last five signings of former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and where they are currently.
It might take even centuries for any manager at Arsenal to eclipse Arsene Wenger’s accomplishments. The Frenchman, after 22 years at the club, left the job in 2018.
Through the course of his years, Wenger has made some remarkable signings, with a few even going on to become some of the greatest players in the English Premier League. In this article, we look at the last 5 signings Arsene Wenger made – going back to the 2017/18 season.
5 – Sead Kolasinac
The first of Arsene Wenger’s last 5 signings. An air of excitement shrouded the Emirates when the Bosnian Hulk arrived from Schalke 04. However, he never lived up to the expectations at the club. After 5 years and 80 league appearances for Arsenal (including a loan move to Schalke in 2021), Kolasinac moved to Marseille in 2022. He now plays for Atalanta in Serie A and is a regular starter.
4 – Alexandre Lacazette
Alexandre Lacazette at Arsenal was a success. Although the Frenchman was not on an elite level, or at least on the level he plays at for Lyon, he did do the job for the North London club. After 5 years at the club, making 158 league appearances and scoring 54 goals, Lacazette went back to Lyon in 2022. He has since scored 48 league goals for them in only 74 league appearances.
3 – Konstantinos Mavropanos
The Greek arrived at Arsenal in 2018 from PAS Giannina. He was the first signing of Arsene Wenger’s final transfer window. Although Mavropanos left the club only in 2022, he hardly got starts at Arsenal. During his 4-year tenure at the North London club, Mavropanos went on loan to two clubs – FC Nurnberg and VfB Stuttgart. He finally joined Stuttgart in 2022. After one year at the German club, he returned to the EPL, joining London rivals West Ham United. He has been getting regular starts since then.
2 – Henrikh Mkhitaryan
Considered by many to be the greatest Armenian player ever, Mkhitaryan arrived at Arsenal from Manchester United, with Alexis Sanchez going the other way. While his first full season (2018/19) at Arsenal was pretty decent, Mkhitaryan soon fell out of favor. He left the club in 2020 to Roma (he was also on loan to Roma for the 2019/20 season). After two years at Roma, Mkhitaryan joined Inter Milan in 2022, and currently plays for them.
1 – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
One of Arsene Wenger’s greatest modern-day signings turned out to be the Frenchman’s last. The Gabonese settled at the club like a duck to water after joining them in 2018. In his first full season, he won the Golden Boot (alongside Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane). In his second season, he narrowly missed out on the golden boot to Jamie Vardy but guided Arsenal single-handedly to FA Cup glory, which remains current manager Mikel Arteta’s only major trophy.
However, towards the end of 2020, Auba fell out of favor with Arteta, and was soon reduced to the bench. He finally left the club in early 2022 to Barcelona. The same year he shocked the world by joining Arsenal’s rivals Chelsea. After a rather disappointing season at West London, Auba joined Marseille and found his form there. He now plays for Al Qadsiah.