TEN of the 14 flops involved in Arsenal’s humiliation at Manchester City were at the club under Arsene Wenger – despite more than £400million of investment.
Legendary boss Wenger left the Emirates under a cloud after 22 years in charge when he was pushed aside.
But eight of his signings started the 5-0 thumping on Saturday.
And all three subs that came off the bench were Wenger additions, too.
Arsenal, however, have splashed out an eye-watering £420.2m on transfer fees in the three years since his departure under Unai Emery and Mikel Arteta.
A total of 24 different players have come into the Emirates – with seven separate loan arrivals and three on free transfers.
CURRENT CROP
But only Bernd Leno, Cedric Soares, Kieran Tierney and Martin Odegaard played at the Etihad but were not part of the club when Wenger was in charge.
The rest of Arteta’s men have been with Arsenal for years.
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Between Cedric and Tierney was a back three of Calum Chambers, Rob Holding and Sead Kolasinac.
Granit Xhaka partnered Odegaard in midfield for 35 minutes before his stupid red card.
And in front of them, 2018 arrival Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang led the line supported by academy graduates Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe.
Another Hale Ender – Ainsley Maitland-Niles – came off the bench, as did long-term Gunners players Alexandre Lacazette and Mohamed Elneny, both signed by Wenger.
AT THE CLUB
Ironically, all-but-one of the rest of the unused subs have arrived in the post-Wenger era.
New signings Nuno Tavares, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Aaron Ramsdale as well as Pablo Mari and Gabriel Martinelli were left on the bench by Arteta.
The other player was young goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo, who joined Arsenal at Under-9 level.
The likes of Thomas Partey, Ben White, Gabriel Magalhaes and Nicolas Pepe have all come in for big transfer fees in recent years but were ruled out of the City clash through injury or illness.
Elsewhere, Pablo Mari, Runar Alex Runarsson and Willian were not involved – with the latter likely not to play for the club again as he closes in on a free transfer to Corinthians in Brazil.
BEEN AND GONE
But while plenty of the £420m worth of talent is still at the club, a large chunk has already been moved on.
Sokratis, Stephan Lichtsteiner and £2m loanee Denis Suarez came in during the 2018-19 campaign.
In the following season, David Luiz and Dani Ceballos are the two who came in and are no longer on the books, the Spanish midfielder having two loans from Real Madrid.
From last year, it is just Mat Ryan – who was on loan from Brighton – who moved on with three appearances for the Gunners.
LOANED OUT
The last group of players are those who have signed for Arsenal in the last three years – but are currently out on loan.
And there are three of them – who cost the club a combined £61m.
William Saliba is with Marseille this season and still awaiting his senior Arsenal debut.
He is playing alongside Matteo Gundouzi for the Ligue 1 side while Lucas Torreira joined Fiorentina on a season-long loan this summer.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
