Ever since I remember, The Arsenal have been a selling club. We are on the 2nd rung of the ladder in world football We are able to buy the 90% of the players in the world, but unable to stop the biggest clubs in the world from signing our players. Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus, AC Milan, Manchester United. The 5 'A Class' clubs that I will always say have everything to attract the top players. The History. The Class. The Finances. The Glory. However, from the early years of Wenger, whenever a player left to one of these, the response came back a couple of years later was simple:



'You might leave The Arsenal, but you will never achieve what you achieved & could've achieved at The Arsenal.



And for many a year in the early 00's, we were right. The likes of Nicolas Anelka, Marc Overmars & Emmanuel Petit left us for 'bigger and better' things joining Real Madrid & Barcelona, and we could still sit there, smugly, that they had not really bettered themselves.



Even when Anelka won the Champions League in 2000 with Real Madrid, we were quick to point out that he had turned down the chance to be a legend and win countless medals at Arsenal, to sit on the bench for Madrid. And we were proved right as he joined PSG that summer, and later Liverpool (loan), Manchester City, Fenerbache & Bolton. He might of won the Champions League, but he was now a journeyman, who's only other success, up till 2007, was the Intertoto Cup and the Süper Lig in Turkey.



As for Overmars & Petit. They won nothing. Ziltch. Zero. And it proved Arsenal fans right. You might leave The Arsenal, but you will never better the Arsenal.



However having just watched Ashley Cole win the Champions League and Gael Clichy & Samir Nasri win the Premiership, whilst Arsenal are now 7 years without a trophy, can we still maintain that? The clear answer is no. We can no longer sit there and say that we are going to be the pinnacle of a player’s career. Look at the following breakdown:



Nicolas Anelka - Already mentioned above. He was one of the 'Never be better then Arsenal.'But since leaving Arsenal, he has no won 1 Premier League title, 2 FA Cups, 1 Champions League, and that Süper Lig. Had he stayed at Arsenal, he would of have won 2 league titles & 3 FA Cups. For me, he would of still achieved more had he stayed at Arsenal. Marginally more in trophies, but he would of become a legend. And that is bigger then any trophy.



Just as a side note, as I go through the players in and out on Wikipedia (my memory is not the best) I notice how few players left us between Anelka, Overmars & Petit in 1999/2000 and when Vieira decided enough was enough in 2005. There was hardly any. Just the bit part players like Luzhny. It just shows, success keeps players, no matter what you pay them. Anyway, I have digressed.



Patrick Vieira - Left due to 'achieving all he could at Arsenal.' He left for Italy, and despite being embarrassed by a young Cesc Fabregas in a Champions League match, he won 5 Seria A titles on the spin (although 1 stripped for the Juventus match fixing scandal). Considering we have won NOTHING since he left. He is the first in a long list which left Arsenal for more success, and got that.



Sol Campbell - Trophies won had he stayed at Arsenal: 0. Trophies won since leaving Arsenal: 1 (FA Cup). Might not of reached the heights that he got at Arsenal, but he achieved more on leaving then he would've done had he stayed.



Robert Pires & Pascal Cygan - Left for Villarreal. Didn’t win anything. The same as if they seen out the rest of their career at Arsenal.



Ashley Cole - '55 fucking grand. I almost crashed my car.' Many wished he had. But since his move for money. 1 Premier League title, 4 FA Cups (won more FA Cups then any other player). 1 League Cup. And now a Champions League title. Who would've thought, in 2006/07 when he left, that he would win more trophies at Chelsea then he won at Arsenal? Yes, the pinnacle of his career might be an unbeaten season. But it might also be a Champions League win.



Jose-Antonio Reyes - Ok, he did not leave to better himself professionally, but to better himself personally. Unable to settle in England, he returned to Spain (via Portugal, but they are pretty much the same country). His return? 1 Spainish league. 1 Portuguese Cup. 2 Europa Leagues. 1 Super Cup. We signed him 6 months before Van Persie. Van Persie has 1 FA Cup to his name...



Thierry Henry - He has one thing at Arsenal that he will never get elsewhere. A statue. Legendary status. It was going to be near impossible for him to better his achievement at Arsenal when joining Barcelona. However, 1 reason he joined Barcelona was to win the Champions League. And he won it. Would he of won it had he stayed at Arsenal? No. Add 2 La Liga's, 1 Copa Del Rey, 1 UEFA Super Cup & 1 FIFA Club World Cup, it is clear, had he stayed at Arsenal, he would not of been as successful.



Freddie Ljungberg - Left for West Ham. Lost more hair. Lived it up in America. Won nothng on leaving.



Lassana Diarra - 1 FA Cup. 1 La Liga. 1 Copa Del Rey. Took a step down on leaving us to Pompey. We laughed. He is now laughing at Real Madrid. A perfect example of what I am talking about.



Mattieu Flamini - Now left AC Milan on a free transfer (the 3rd free transfer of his career, he typifies the modern footballer. No loyalty. Leaves for money. etc. etc). But in the years he was at Milan, he still won Seria A & the Suppercoppa Italiana. If a journeyman like Flamini can win trophies upon leaving Arsenal, how do we expect to keep hold of superstars?



Alex Hleb - How we laugh as he went from Barcelona to Stuttgart to Birmingham to Wolfsburg to Krylia Sovetov (who? Where?). How he laughs as he has in his trophy cabinet a La Liga title, a Copa Del Rey, a Champions League medal and even a League Cup. That trophy which we came closest to breaking our current duck. Compare him to Rosicky, who stayed (albeit mainly in the medical room) who has 0 medals from his time at Arsenal.



Emmanuel Adebayor - Finally. He restores my faith in the 'you wont do better then Arsenal.' OK, he has a Copa Del Rey when on loan at Madrid. But his career has nose dived after leaving Arsenal. Now on loan at a Europa League club, when he could of still been at a Champions League Club. His career has not been on an upward curve since leaving Arsenal, motivated by money.



Kolo Toure - Left for success. Fed up with Arsenal. Went to City. Won an FA Cup & Premier League title. Exactly the type of career I am talking about. He will win more between now and the end of his career with City then he ever won in his 7 years at Arsenal. But will it ever better being an invincible? The pinnacle of his career was at Arsenal.



Gallas & Silvestre - They were never going to win anything at the clubs they joined.



Eduardo - 3 trophies in Ukraine since leaving (League title and 2 cups). 0 trophies won by Arsenal since he left.



Senderos - was he really going to win anything at Fulham? The FA Cup in 2005 is still the pinnacle of his career.



Clichy - A substitue in the invincible team. A genuine League winner at Manchester City. He has won as many League titles in the 1 year he has been at City, as he did in 8 years at Arsenal. And he will win more over the next 5 years at City then Arsenal will over the next 10.



Cesc Fabregas - Finally we have one. A player who left Arsenal, and his only 'success' is the Spanish, European & World equivalents of the Community Shield. Nothing to shout home about. But one thing is for sure. He will win more between now and the end of his career away from Arsenal then he would had he stayed. And that makes me sad. He is the 'first' of the new breed of Arsenal leavers. The others mentioned above who got REAL success (Vieira, Henry) left towards the end of the career after they had given their best to Arsenal. He left Arsenal to improve on his career and give his best to someone else.



Emmanual Eboue - I was surprised to read that he won nothing in his career at Arsenal. He leaves. Within 1 season, he has a League title in Turkey.



Arshavin - Like Eboue, he left without anybody really caring. 'Clearing out the dead wood' is what many currently say. Well that 'dead wood' like Eboue, now has a league title.



Samir Nasri - Clearly left for money. But at the time, I noted that he will win more at Manchester City then he would at Arsenal. And I have been proved right. Yes, the bitterness in many will always point out that he left to treble his money. But he now has a league title. Robin Van Persie does not. It is likely Nasri will win more titles at Manchester City (if they don't sell him first). Will Van Persie ever win the title at Arsenal?



What has shocked me when writing this is not that the 'you never leave Arsenal and better yourself' has been blown out of the water, we all know that. I have just pointed out the obvious. It is not even shocking how much success players who have left us have had, even if many of them got their success in lower leagues, minor competitions, or bit part players at big clubs.



What shocked me is of the 5 first team players who left us over the last 12 months, FOUR now have a league title, and one plays for Barcelona. We used to say we do not buy stars, we make them. Now we make them and sell them. Arsenal's motto should now be:



'Buy an Arsenal player, win a title.'



It is a very depressing outlook. And shows, that even though we might be bitter towards the likes of Ashley Cole, Emmanuel Adebayor & Samir Nasri for leaving us in recent years, the truth is simple. If you want to win trophies, you are better off not at Arsenal. And it is for that reason we will probably lose Robin Van Persie.

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