During Arsène Wenger’s time at the club, Arsenal have adopted a few defining characteristics.
They try to play attractive football, consistently fail to make what seem like obvious defensive signings and, finally, look to bring young players into the first team.
Wenger has had great success moulding talented prospects into world-class footballers, with some of the notable examples being Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry and Cesc Fàbregas. Even in recent years, when he’s been under pressure from some of his own support, he’s still looked to the long-term and given chances to promising youngsters.
However, there are plenty of examples over the years where a player that seemed destined for the top never managed to hit the heights. So with that in mind, here are 10 former Arsenal players that didn’t make the grade under Wenger.
Fran Merida
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Arsenal had great success with Cesc Fàbregas, and they hoped to repeat the trick when they brought 17-year-old Fran Merida over from Barcelona in 2007. Wenger described him as an “absolutely amazing player” after completing the deal and, like Fàbregas, he was a technically-gifted, creative central midfielder.
However, he was unable to make the breakthrough to become a regular first-team player, joining Atlètico Madrid on a free transfer in 2010. The former Spain Under-21 international was only on the fringes at Atlètico, and he’s had spells at Braga, Hercules, and Atlético Paranaense since. Now 25, he plies his trade at Segunda Division club Huesca.
Jérémie Aliadière
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Jérémie Aliadière was a product of the famous Clairefontaine academy, and one of his former coaches ranked him alongside Thierry Henry and Nicolas Anelka (via BBC Sport) as the most promising French strikers to come through in a decade.
He joined Arsenal ahead of rival interest from some of Europe’s leading clubs at the age of 16, and made a very encouraging start, equalling Michael Owen’s record of nine goals on the Gunners’ way to lifting the FA Youth Cup in 2001. It never really worked out for him at first-team level, though, even if he did win a league medal after making 10 appearances during the club’s historic unbeaten campaign in 2003/04.
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He joined Middlesbrough in 2007, before a fairly successful spell with Lorient in his homeland, and he now plays for Umm Salal in Qatar.
Quincy Owusu-Abeyie
Quincy Owusu-Abeyie was released by Ajax as a 16-year-old because of problems with his attitude, but he was snapped up by Arsenal and scored 17 goals in 20 appearances at youth level in his first season in England.
The forward’s speed and skill caught the eye during his early showings at senior level, but he left in search of first-team football after the arrival of Emmanuel Adebayor and Theo Walcott in January 2006.
He’s been something of a journeyman after leaving the Gunners, playing for nine different clubs in the years since, and joined Portuguese club Boavista on a one-year deal in the summer of 2014.
Denilson
When the midfielder arrived at Arsenal from Sao Paulo in 2006 he was both young and Brazilian. That certainly seemed like an excellent combination. What could possibly go wrong? The South American nation boasts a constant conveyor belt of talent, and Wenger had managed to land the latest Samba star for a paltry fee.
Unfortunately, he failed to live up to the hype. Competition for places and injury issues saw Denilson gradually slip down the pecking order before he was released at 25 years of age in 2013, along with fellow flops Andrey Arshavin and Sebastien Squillaci. The shame. He went back to Sao Paulo but left two years later, joining Al-Wahda in 2015.
Philippe Senderos
Arsenal beat off competition from a number of leading clubs around Europe, including Real Madrid and Manchester United, according to Sky Sports, to sign Philippe Senderos from Swiss club Servette in 2003. The centre-back was hailed as a star of the future, but he’d become a joke figure towards the end of his time at Arsenal.
It wasn’t all bad, as he started in the 2005 FA Cup final win and helped them reach the 2006 Champions League final, but he seemed to lack the resilience to play for a big club, and was completely dominated by Didier Drogba several times.
Senderos signed for Aston Villa in 2014, but after a troubled two-year spell he left for Grasshoppers at the end of January this year. He’s never lived up to that early potential.
Carlos Vela
Carlos Vela is arguably one of the most gifted talents on this list, but his only real contribution for the Gunners was a few impudent lobs in the cups. The Mexico international has superb technique, pace and an eye for goal, but he struggled to settle in England, and Arsenal never saw the best of him.
He now plays for Real Sociedad and has scored four goals and created 36 chances in 23 league appearances this term.
Jay Emmanuel-Thomas
Jay Emmanuel-Thomas signed for Arsenal as an eight-year-old, and became the captain of the Under-18s when he was only 16. The promising talent had impressive technique, but was also a superb athlete, which meant it took some time for him to find his best position as a forward.
He rose to prominence with a stunning goal against Everton Reserves, but only ever made five appearances in the first-team for the Gunners. He’s carved out a decent career for himself in the lower leagues, and now plays on loan for the MK Dons from parent club Queens Park Rangers.
David Bentley
There were very high hopes for David Bentley when he progressed through the ranks at Arsenal, and was often compared to club legend Dennis Bergkamp. The winger scored a glorious chip against Middlesbrough in 2004 to open his account for the Gunners, but quickly became frustrated with a lack of first-team opportunities and joined Blackburn Rovers in 2006.
He impressed at Ewood Park and earned a £15 million move to Arsenal’s fierce rivals Tottenham Hotspur, but his career was never quite the same after that. He only played 42 league games for the club over five years, with a number of unsuccessful loan spells in between. The former England international retired from football at the age of 29, claiming he’d fallen out of love with the game.
Jermaine Pennant
Arsenal signed Jermaine Pennant from Notts County for £2m when he was just 16, which understandably led to huge expectations for the promising winger. He made his debut aged 16 years and 319 days, which made him the club’s youngest-ever player at the time. He also scored a hat-trick on his full league debut against Southampton.
Problems off the field prevented Pennant from living up to his potential at Arsenal though, as he’s had spells at Birmingham City, Liverpool and Stoke City. Now the winger plays for Singapore’s Tampines Rovers FC.
Amaury Bischoff
Amaury Bischoff’s arrival at the Emirates came straight out of left-field, but he seemed to have gone almost as quickly as he’d arrived. The virtually unknown midfielder arrived on a one-year deal from Werder Bremen in 2008, though Wenger admitted it was a gamble as a result of his injury history.
The German only made four appearances for the club in total, before being released at the end of the season. Bischoff currently plays for Preussen Munster in third tier of German football.
Ryo Miyaichi
Plenty of hype surrounded Ryo Miyaichi’s arrival at Arsenal in 2011, as many felt that the Japanese winger’s incredible skill could make him a potential world-beater.
He had a very impressive loan spell at Feyenoord in 2010/11, which saw him dubbed “Ryodinho” by some of the Dutch media, but his progress was derailed by a serious injury while on loan at Wigan Athletic during 2012/13.
His Arsenal career ended with a whimper, as he joined FC St. Pauli of the German second tier last summer. Squawka.com