Top 10 Arsenal Players That Never Made It

Top 10 Arsenal Players That Never Made it

Here, we will look at the top 10 Arsenal players that never made it. Which players do you remember, who were complete flops at Arsenal? Some players have been absolute gems at North London while some have had to move elsewhere to prove their talents. We are going to take a closer look at the players who just never quite made it at Arsenal.

Arsenal flops? Gunners players who never made it? Arsenal players who never made it at the club?

Top 10 Arsenal Players Who Never Made It

So which players do you think should be in this list? Which players never made it at Arsenal? Who were the Arsenal players that never made it?

10. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

Don’t know if all Arsenal fans would agree with me but I would like to think that Alex Oxlade Chamberlain never made it at the club.

Signed as an 18-year-old from Southampton with giant expectations on his head, the midfielder did make an impressive start to his Gunners career. He scored 20 goals and set up 32 assists in 198 appearances for the club but none of the club’s supporters got to see the best of him.

Oxlade-Chamberlain’s Arsenal career was riddled with injuries which forced him to constantly compete for a starting spot. Wenger utilised him in various positions to help him hit his stride but the Englishman’s development very soon plateaued.

However, after a £40m switch to Liverpool, Oxlade-Chamberlain burst onto the scene, taking up a more central attacking role and helping the Reds make a run to the Champions League final. He made the team look unstoppable on the counter, especially under Jurgen Klopp’s system. And now, after two seasons, he is a Champions League winner.

9. Sebastian Larsson Is One Of The Arsenal Players Who Never Made It At North London

Sebastian Larsson was hailed as a top Academy prospect when he emerged from the Arsenal ranks in 2004. He was signed when he was only 16 and was being vetted for a defensive midfield role. He was sharp to the ball, was versatile with his positioning and really impressed the scouts with his vision on the pitch.

After making a couple of starts in place of Sol Campbell, Larsson was shifted out to Birmingham City on loan and then permanently sold off in January 2007 for £1m.

Larsson could never break into a top tier side again but he became a cult figure back at Sunderland and also earned 110 caps for Sweden.

8. Oguzhan Ozyakup

A highly successful academy player, Özyakup won the Premier Academy League of 2008/09 and 2009/10 and the FA Youth Cup of 2008/09. He was signed as a schoolboy but never got to appear for the senior side.

The attacking midfielder was sold off to Besiktas for €500,000, where he became a bonafide star in the Turkish first division. Reports even came out during Arsene Wenger’s final season as the Gunners manager claiming that the 26-year-old would be recalled back to the Emirates with his buy-back clause. Guess, he never really made the grade for the North Londoners.

7. Lukasz Fabianski Is A Former Arsenal Player Who Never Made It

Another Arsenal player who spent a lot of time at the club but could never break into the first team. Fabianski made only 32 league appearances over the 7 seasons he played for the Gunners.

The Pole found success late in his career when he moved to Swansea City, making 150 appearances across 4 years. He was so impressive that West Ham United dealt out around £11m to sign him in 2018 even if he was 33 years old at the time.

6. Lassana Diarra

Diarra’s footballing career has swayed from various highs and lows and his time at Arsenal was definitely one of his lows. The 34-cap former French international was passed on to the Gunners by Chelsea in 2007.

The midfielder only stayed for season before getting sold off to Portsmouth for £5.5m. He later found success in the Real Madrid ranks and even emerged last year as a one-year rental for Paris Saint-Germain.

5. Davor Suker

Davor Suker arrived at Arsenal amid a lot of excitement in 1999. He had left behind his career with Real Madrid to sign with the Gunners after scoring 114 goals in 239 appearances with them.

He was impressive in the beginning, scoring 10 goals in 15 starts but the presence of Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry and Kanu meant that he would only find it tougher to find playing time.

After a year, he was sold off to West Ham United.

4. Wojciech Szczesny

Wojciech Szczesny is currently Poland’s number one shot-stopper and he once was a regular at Arsenal. He made 181 appearances for the club after breaking out of the club’s youth set-up in 2010.

However, the Pole lacked the cutting edge to full make the number one position his own at Arsenal. Wenger got the chance to sign Petr Cech in 2015 and immediately sent Szczesny out on loan to AS Roma, where he got to make a name for himself in the Serie A.

After his 2-year loan spell, Arsenal decided to sell him off to Juventus for €12.2m. The 29-year-old was brought in to succeed into Gianluigi Buffon’s spot and from the 2018/19 season, he even inherited the number one shirt at Turin.

3. Carlos Vela

Carlos Vela is a highly popular figure in the La Liga and back in his home country of Mexico. He scored 73 times and laid off 45 assists in 250 appearances for Real Sociedad.

The attacker played in numerous positions in the final third but was most effective on the right flank. He utilized his stronger left foot and his close control of the ball to cut in and break down defences.

As a youngster, lot of clubs were vying for his signature but Arsenal won the race by paying out £550,000. He was thought to be the next Latin American star but he never could quite show his true self to Wenger.

2. 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.

1. Serge Gnabry

Serge Gnabry might be one of the biggest regrets for Arsenal, the price of which they are paying today. The German speedster flew out of his home town, Stuttgart to sign for Arsenal in a £150,000 deal in 2011.

He bet on himself to succeed and saw a glimpse of that opportunity in the 2013/14 season when Theo Walcott got injured ahead of a Stoke City game. Gnabry was still a bit raw but his potential to create and score showed through his first ever senior goal against Swansea City in the next game.

Gnabry earned a nomination for the 2013 Golden Boy award and signed a new five-year contract that season. Unfortunately, the winger got sidelined with a knee injury the next season and had to be loaned out to West Bromwich Albion.

Arsenal gave up hope on him and tried to make a quick profit by banking £5m from his sale to Werder Bremen. Gnabry burst onto the scene with 11 goals in 27 Bundesliga appearances in his debut season.

Bayern Munich quickly took notice and activated a clause in his contract which meant that they could sign him for only €8m. Now, the 23-year-old is a starting figure in the Allianz Arena, predicted to succeed into Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery’s spot as the legendary duo is set to depart this summer.

See Also:

• Arsenal Defender Transfer Targets
• Top 5 Arsenal Players Sold With Buy-Back Clause
• Arsenal Highest Transfer Fees Paid And Received Ever