How did players fare when moving from Arsenal to Barcelona?
SEE ALSO: All the Premier League done deals so far.
It wouldn’t be a summer transfer window without Arsenal and Barcelona doing business of some kind, would it? With the Gunners turning the tables on their illustrious rivals earlier this summer with the superb £35m signing of Alexis Sanchez, order has been restored now with the Catalan giants over-paying for a mediocre member of Arsene Wenger’s squad in Thomas Vermaelen.
Arsenal fans will be delighted to get around £15m for a player in the final year of his contract, who had gone horribly off the boil at the Emirates Stadium after falling behind Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny in the defensive pecking order, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Belgian international became the latest player to flop after swapping north London for Catalunya.
See below for other notable players to be poached from Arsenal by Barcelona, with few turning out to be a great success upon doing so.
Emmanuel Petit
Barcelona’s fascination with Arsenal started in the summer of 2000, with the club completing a double deal for two of the Gunners’ star players, one of which was French midfielder Emmanuel Petit. The blonde-haired defensive shield struck up a superb partnership in the middle of the park with Patrick Vieira during his time at Highbury, but was played in a number of different positions at the Nou Camp, excelling in none of them before returning to the Premier League shortly afterwards as he signed for Chelsea. Sounds familiar…
Verdict: Miss
Marc Overmars
In the same summer, Barcelona signed Dutch winger Marc Overmars after his dazzling displays in the Premier League in his three years with Arsenal. However, despite earning semi-legendary status in north London, he was once again a player who struggled to hit top form upon moving to the Nou Camp, where his injury problems returned to haunt him as he ended his career early in 2004.
Verdict: Miss
Giovanni van Bronckhorst
A rare oversight by Arsenal, Dutch left-back Giovanni van Bronckhorst barely got a look in during his short time with Arsenal, leading Barcelona to take the player on loan for the 2003/04 season, before completing a permanent transfer for him a year later. ‘Gio’, as he became known at Barca, then became the club’s first choice on the left-hand side of their defence, becoming a key player in one of the most successful periods of their history, winning two La Liga titles and the Champions League in just four years in Spain.
Verdict: Hit
Thierry Henry
Although Arsenal arguably sold club legend Thierry Henry at the right time after his influence and passion for the team had waned at the end of the 2006/07 season, Barcelona still got themselves a decent player out of the move, albeit not the world class striker who had terrorised the Premier League for so many years. The Frenchman formed a crucial part of Pep Guardiola’s treble-winning side in 2008/09, and will have to go down as a relative success as he linked up delightfully with Lionel Messi and Samuel Eto’o that year.
Verdict: Hit
Alexander Hleb
Surely up there with Barcelona’s worst-ever signing? Alex Hleb had a decent three-year spell at Arsenal without ever looking truly world class, but somehow prompted the Catalan giants to fork out around £13.5m for him in the summer of 2008. The Belarussian went on to barely feature for the club in his four years on their books, with repeated failed loan moves not enough to persuade any other clubs to pay to sign him permanently. A bizarre transfer, and one in which Arsenal were certainly the only winners.
Verdict: Miss
Cesc Fabregas
After leaving Barcelona’s youth system to move to Arsenal at the age of just 15, it was always expected that Cesc Fabregas would return to his boyhood club one day if they ever wanted him. After becoming one of the Gunners’ best midfielders in recent history, as well as a star of the Premier League, he made a £30m move to the Nou Camp in 2011, though things didn’t quite go to plan. A strong start signalled Fabregas’ immense talent, but constant moving out of position and the overall decline of this Barcelona squad meant he lost his way somewhat, leading to a chance to return to Arsenal this summer – which they passed up, and he joined Chelsea instead. Given how much and for how long Barca’s players pushed for this transfer, it certainly wasn’t worth the effort.
Verdict: Miss
Alex Song
Another strange signing considering Alex Song had never truly shone as an outstanding member of the Arsenal team in his long stay at the club. After recovering from looking like a total flop in his days as a youngster, the Cameroon international started to show some promise in the 2010/11 and 2011/12 seasons, though he still looked some way off being a Barcelona player. True to form, he has struggled to break past the host of big names in the Barca squad and is now another player of theirs that they can’t wait to be rid of. Does a similar fate await Thomas Vermaelen? History suggests so.