Arsenal have signed a number of serial winners in their time, including a Euro 2000 winner and World Cup runner-up
Arsenal have signed a number of players over the years who joined the club for record fees. As has been the case throughout the Premier League era, if you want to be successful you need the best players and they tend to cost the most.
When the competition first got underway in 1992, Ian Wright’s £2.5m move from Crystal Palace stood as Arsenal’s most expensive signing. Fast forward to today and it is the £105m Arsenal shelled out for Declan Rice that now holds the record, and there have been plenty of exciting transfers that have come in between.
Dennis Bergkamp is one of the names that is synonymous with Arsenal, scoring 120 goals and assisting 116 times in 420 appearances. The Netherlands international signed from Inter Milan in 1995, agreeing a long-term contract for a then club-record fee of £7.5m.
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The Dutch forward was bought by Bruce Rioch but flourished under Arsene Wenger when he joined the club a year later. The iconic manager decided to make Bergkamp the focal point of the Gunners’ attack, and it proved extremely successful.
It was so worthwhile that Henry named the Dutchman the “best partner” he has ever played with in his career. During the last-ever match at Highbury, Bergkamp set up one goal and scored another in a 3-1 win over West Brom.
The match was dubbed ‘Dennis Bergkamp Day’ and was one of the striker’s final games as a professional footballer. Speaking post-match, Henry was full of praise for his beloved teammate as he said: “I have always said Dennis Bergkamp will remain the best partner I have ever had – he is a dream for a striker.”
Almost a decade later, the World Cup winner named Bergkamp as his number one partner in football. During a Q&A session at Sky Sports in 2015, Henry said: “Because of longevity and because I saw him every day in training for more than seven years, Dennis Bergkamp.”
Bergkamp won three Premier League titles, four FA Cups and three Community Shields. He didn’t manage to achieve the same international success as some of his teammates, including close friend Henry.
The club found success with another French forward too, this time in the shape of Sylvain Wiltord. The right-winger broke the club record fee that Bergkamp set five years previously, joining in August 2000 for £13m.
Wiltord made 81 goal contributions across four seasons for Arsenal, winning the league twice and collecting a host of domestic cups. He also won the European Championship in the same year he signed for the Gunners, scoring the equaliser that took the game against Italy to extra-time and ultimately saw France lift the trophy.
He played alongside Henry in the French national team set-up, winning three international competitions and coming runner-up in the 2006 World Cup. ANother Arsenal record signing who gained international recognition was Mesut Ozil, who was part of the Germany squad that lifted the World Cup in 2014, and he had joined the Gunners the season before this international triumph for a record £42.5million.
Lukas Podolski also represented Arsenal and Germany on the biggest stages and lifted the coveted golden trophy alongside Ozil. Another striker who once played for France – albeit at a youth level – and Arsenal was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The striker joined the Gunners in 2018 for another club-record fee of £56m. He signed in January and shared the Premier League Golden Boot with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, scoring 22 goals in a very short period.
Auba would go on to spend four years in north London, scoring 92 goals and assisting 21 times. However, he wouldn’t reach the same levels of domestic or international success as Henry, Wiltord or Bergkamp.
The striker went on to represent Gabon to honour his family’s heritage, scoring 40 goals in 83 caps. He won the FA Cup and Community Shield with the Gunners before joining Barcelona in 2022.
Aubameyang did return to the Premier League but joined Arsenal’s rivals Chelsea instead, spending a year at Stamford Bridge. He is the only striker on this list still playing professionally, now plying his trade at Marseille at the age of 37.
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