Throughout Arsène Wenger’s long reign in charge of Arsenal, he helped uncover, develop and sometimes sell on a plethora of talented young stars.
There were obviously the likes of Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira, who came to define the club, but there were also a whole host of other impressive, talented players who weren’t quite on the same level but went on to have great careers anyway.
Moreover, while anyone can go out and spend millions on an already highly-rated youngster, the Frenchman often oversaw the signing of relatively unknown and cheap prospects who would go on and make it into the first team.
One of those players joined the North Londoners in January 2006 alongside another couple of future first-teamers before being sold for millions more than he cost the club over a decade later.
Arsenal's transfers in January 2006
So, starting with a player who, while undeniably talented, isn’t well-liked among Arsenal fans anymore: Emmanuel Adebayor.
According to Transfermarkt, the Gunners paid AS Monaco around £8m for the Togo ace, and while he wasn’t a household name at the time, he would go on to become a reliable source of goals for the North Londoners, netting 62 times and providing 19 assists in 142 games.
However, in the summer of 2009, the talented marksman moved to Manchester City and, in an infamous game at the Etihad, ran the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of his former fans.
If that wasn’t enough to tarnish any relationship he might’ve had with them, he signed for Tottenham Hotspur on loan for the 11/12 season before making a permanent move the following year.
Overall, the 66-capped international enjoyed a brilliant career, but it would be fair to say that he’s probably not welcome at the Emirates anymore, unlike the other attacker signed in January 2006: Theo Walcott.
The former England international joined the Gunners from Southampton for around £5m, rising to £12.5m, and while some might say he never quite reached the levels so many believed he could, the rapid forward enjoyed a successful 12 years in the capital.
The 47-capped international made 397 appearances for the club, scoring 108 goals, providing 73 assists, and playing a crucial role in two FA Cup triumphs, which is a career most players could only dream of.
However, another future star joined the club in the same month as Walcott and Adebayor, and he did so for a lot less money.
Wojciech Szczęsny's Arsenal career
Yes, the player in question is Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny, who joined the club’s youth setup in January 2006 from Legia Warsaw for a fee that Transfermarkt claims was just under £50k, which, given the career he went on to have, was a steal.
After spending a couple of years in the academy, the Warszawa-born shot-stopper joined Brentford on a short-term loan in November 2009, and while he wasn’t even there for an entire campaign, he was voted the Bee’s keeper of the decade in 2015 by the fans.
Wenger finally gave the promising youngster a run of games in the 2010/11 campaign, and by the following year, he was the team’s number one and proved as much when he made a superb double save at Anfield in 2012.
In all, the Polish international made 181 appearances for Arsenal, but several incidents, including a sending-off against Bayern Munich and smoking in the showers, combined with the arrival of Petr Cech in 2015, saw him loaned out to Serie A giants AS Roma that same summer, where he spent two brilliant seasons and caught the eye of Juventus.
Despite once calling him “world-class”, it was clear that Wenger did not want the 6 foot 5 titan back in N5 following his time in Rome, so the club acted on the Old Lady’s interest and agreed to a £10m transfer, which means he was sold for about 19900% more than he cost the club 11 years earlier, which isn’t bad going.
Appearances
28
181
81
252
Goals Conceded
29
194
95
233
Clean Sheets
10
72
23
103
In the years since, Szczesny became an integral part of Juventus’ first team and is now playing for Barcelona after coming out of retirement a few weeks ago, and with David Raya holding down the number one spot for Arsenal, his departure probably worked out for all parties.
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