The Gunners have a habit of letting their skippers leave.
On Saturday Thomas Vermaelen completed his £15m transfer from Arsenal to FC Barcelona to become the fifth Gunners captain to be sold in the past nine years.
Here is a history of the departed skippers from the Emirates Stadium.
Patrick Vieira, 2005
A leader for the club in the true sense of the word and enjoyed a great period of success with the North Londoners after becoming Arsene Wenger’s first signing back in 1996.
Vieira led from the front and had a particularly tense on-field relationship with opposite number at Manchester United, Roy Keane, but after helping the club win the FA Cup in 2005 the midfielder left for Juventus.
Theirry Henry, 2007
With his fellow countryman having left the armband was passed to the next icon at the club, with Henry having won the hearts of all the supporters for his performances since joining in 1999.
Henry would also leave the Emirates in 2007 for pastures new and eventually won the elusive Champions League with Barcelona in his first season with the Spanish giants.
Cesc Fabregas, 2011
Against the usual terms for appointing a captain Wenger decided to name the then 21-year-old Fabregas his skipper in 2008 after William Gallas had held the armband for one season.
The Spain international would lead the team for three years before he too went to the Nou Camp, although the dream of being with his boyhood club was not quite what it seemed and he is now back in the Premier League with Chelsea.
Robin van Persie, 2012
Just a year later the next skipper was on his way as well, with van Persie seeking a move away from the English capital with his contract running down.
Much to the surprise and anger of the fans the Netherlands international left for rivals Manchester United and helped them to win the league title during his first 12 months at Old Trafford.
Thomas Vermaelen, 2014
Finally it is the third and final name on the list that Barca have snapped up, with critics accusing the Gunners of acting like a feeder club to the Catalans at times.
However, for the past year Vermaelen has found it difficult to even break into the starting XI due to the form of Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny and now the leadership has been passed to Mikel Arteta.
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