10 Players Who Have Played For Arsenal And Barcelona
Football players who have played for Arsenal and Barcelona? Footballers who have played for Arsenal and Barcelona? Here, we will take a look at players who have played for Arsenal and Barcelona.
Arsenal have been, sometimes in history, been a feeder club for the European giant that is Barcelona. The Blaugrana have raided the North Londoners for some of their best talents while Arsenal have also been fortunate enough to sign some from the opposite end.
10 Players Who Played For Both Arsenal And Barcelona
10. Alexander Hleb
Hleb was brought in for €15m and he was sold for the same amount in 2008 when Barcelona came calling. Even to this day, the Belarusian midfielder regrets his decision to sign for the La Liga giant due to his diminished role at the club.
He was a popular figure at Arsenal and could have been one of the greats if he had just stuck around at the Emirates. However, he did get to collect all three medals during Barcelona’s dominant treble-winning 2008/09 season.
9. Giovanni van Bronckhorst Has Played For Both Arsenal And Barcelona
Giovanni van Brockhorst’s Arsenal career got derailed due to a serious injury to his knee. After recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament tear, the 102-cap Dutch international struggled to get himself going at the Highbury.
He moved to Barcelona on loan when Frank Rijkaard was dictating things at the Camp Nou. After adjusting to his new role as a left-back, Brockhorst signed with the Catalan outfit permanently, dealing out a loss of around £6m to Arsenal.
8. Alex Song
Alex Song is another Arsenal name who probably laments his decision to ever sign for Barcelona. The defensive midfielder had finally established himself as a starting figure at the Emirates when he got the call from the La Liga outfit.
The Gunners made a hefty profit of around £14m after signing him for only £1m in 2006.
7. Thomas Vermaelen
Thomas Vermaelen’s career was riddled with injury and he carried his fitness troubles with him to Barcelona when he moved there in 2014. In his first season at the Camp Nou, the centre-half won the La Liga title, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup after only playing 62 minutes of football.
Vermaelen was Arsenal’s best defender during his time but only when could manage to stay on the pitch. Arsene Wenger was quick to pocket the £15m that Barcelona offered him, instead of holding onto the Belgian, even though he was the club captain.
6. Emmanuel Petit
Arsene Wenger brought Emmanuel Petit along with him from AS Monaco in 1997. The French midfielder cost the Gunners £2.5m and they got a Premier League title, a FA Cup and around £5.5m in profit when Barcelona signed him three seasons later.
5. Alexis Sanchez
Alexis Sanchez is one of the most hated players at North London but at one point he was the most loved. The Chilean made the switch from Barcelona to Arsenal in 2014 and almost immediately became the club’s best player. He could never settle into the disciplined system at the Blaugrana, especially next to a footballing maven like Lionel Messi.
Sanchez torched opposition defences with his skill, balance and pace on the ball. Arsene Wenger gave him the freedom to run free on the left flank and the winger quickly started to instil fear onto Premier League defenders. Going one-on-one with him was a nightmare for fullbacks and he himself knew it.
Pretty soon, Sanchez started to be appreciated as one of the best players in the English top-flight but his ambitions were not being matched by Arsenal. The South American wanted to win trophies but the Gunners were stuck to finishing 4th almost every season.
When his contract entered the final season, he expressed a desire to either leave the club or demanded outlandish wages to stay. Wenger had no choice but to find some way to shift him out and found a Jose Mourinho-run Manchester United to be willing takers.
4. Sylvinho
A Barcelona star who won the La Liga thrice, the Champions League twice and the Copa del Rey once could never really make it in the Gunners ranks. Sylvinho was the first Brazilian player to ever sign for Arsenal in 1999 and immediately got to earn a first-team spot, replacing an ageing Nigel Winterburn.
However, Ashley Cole’s emergence in his second season as a Gunner saw his game time get cut by a significant amount. Sylvinho was then sold off to Celta Vigo after only two seasons at the Highbury.
The left-back impressed for the La Liga outfit and earned a move to Camp Nou in 2004.
3. Marc Overmars Are Among The Top Footballers Who Have Played For Arsenal And Barcelona
A speedster from a very young age, Marc Overmars came into the Highbury in 1997 from Ajax. Arsene Wenger had managed to steal him away from the Dutch champions for only €5.5m.
Overmars was an immediate hit at North London, scoring 16 goals in his debut Premier League season. One of his goals which is fondly remembered by Gunners fans was in the 1998 Cup Final win against Newcastle when he beat Shay Given.
He spent only 3 seasons with the club and is still regarded as one of the most prolific wingers in the club’s history. His transfer fee of £25m to Barcelona is also in the club’s top ten list of most expensive players ever sold by the club.
Now, he is a highly successful director of football at Ajax, having nearly brought in £200m in profit through player sales.
2. Cesc Fabregas
1. Thierry Henry
Thierry Henry deserves to sit on this list most due to the impact he had on football during his playing days. The Frenchman is arguably the greatest player to have played for Arsenal and he is also fondly remembered by Barcelona fans.
His transfer probably was the most painful for the Gunners but he earned his stripes by winning the Champions League and La Liga treble in 2009. Even after retiring Henry has voiced his support for his old club, even expressing a desire to return to the club someday as a manager.
See Also:
- Best Arsenal XI Of All Time
- Top 5 Arsenal Players Sold With Buy-Back Clause
- Arsenal Top Scorers Of All Time (All Competitions By Season)
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