Arsenal's transfer policy: How Wenger replaced top players with average ones

Out Patrick Vieira (July 2005-£13.5m-Juventus) The captain of the 2004 Invincibles and Arsenal’s driving force in midfield for nine years had long been linked with a move away. He departed for Turin shortly after helping Arsenal win the 2005 FA Cup, which remains the club’s last trophy success Photograph: ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP

In Abou Diaby (Jan 2006 £2m) Alex Song (Aug 2006 £1m) Denilson (Aug 2006 £3.4m) Aaron Ramsey (Jun 2008 £5m) Diaby arguably matches Vieira in terms of strength, power and poise, but a wretched injury record means he has come nowhere close to making the same impact. Song performed well in patches prior to joining Barcelona last August while Denilson, having failed to live up to the hype, is now back at São Paulo on loan. Ramsey has struggled to make an impact since breaking his leg against Stoke in 2010, giving a poor performance against Bayern Munich this week (Picture credit, left to right: Tony O'Brian/Action Images, Victor Fraile/Getty Images, Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images, Christophe Stache/AFP) Photograph: PR

Out Thierry Henry (Jun 2007 £16.1m) Arsenal’s all-time record goalscorer and, arguably, greatest ever player moved to Barcelona having helped Arsène Wenger’s side win two Premier League titles and three FA Cups in an eight-year spell in north London. The Frenchman returned to the club briefly on loan last year Photograph: Paul Gilham/Getty Images

In Eduardo (Jul 2007 £7.5m) Andrey Arshavin (Feb 2009 £15m) Eduardo quickly took up the mantle of being Arsenal's leading striker, scoring 12 goals in his first season at the club prior to suffering a horrific leg-break in February 2008 that led to a deterioration in his form and a subsequent move to Shakhtar Donetsk. Arshavin also settled quickly into life at Emirates but despite being a rare example of Wenger spending a relatively large fee on a player, but his class proved temporary. (PICTURE CREDITS: left, Ian Kingston/AFP, right, John Sibley/Action Images) Photograph: Action Images

Out Emmanuel Adebayor (Jul 2009 £25m) Adebayor scored 62 goals in 141 games, 16 of them in his final season at the club as he formed a fruitful relationship with Cesc Fábregas. He became the first of three leading Arsenal players to move to Manchester City when he joined the Abu Dhabi-owned club in the summer of 2009 Photograph: JAVIER SORIANO/AFP/Getty Images

In Marouane Chamakh (May 2010 Free) Park Chu-Young (Aug 2011 £2m) Chamakh was signed amid much fanfare in 2010, after a good scoring record for Bordeaux. He started well, scoring 10 goals in his first 21 appearances, but has managed only one Premier League goal since then. He is now on loan at West Ham. There has never been a valid explanation for the signing of Park, meanwhile. The Korean has featured as a substitute in the Premier League once, and was last summer loaned to Celta Vigo for the season
Photograph: left, Julian Finney/Getty Images, right, Scott Heavey/Getty Images/Getty

Out Kolo Touré (Jun 2009 £16m) The Ivorian defender operated at both full-back and centre-half for Arsenal and was a key member of the 2004 Invincibles as well as helping the club win the 2003 and 2005 FA Cup. He joined City after seven years working under Wenger Photograph: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

In Thomas Vermaelen (Jul 2009 £10m) Laurent Koscielny (Jul 2010 £9.7m) Sébastien Squillaci (Aug 2010 £3.3m) Per Mertesacker (Aug 2011 £8m) Vermaelen impressed in his first season but has deteriorated since. The latter trio are part of what is undeniably the weakest collection of defenders Arsenal have had in decades. Koscielny and Mertesacker are regular starters yet rank as pale imitations of the likes of Tony Adams, Martin Keown, Sol Campbell and Touré. Squillaci, meanwhile, has proved a disastrous signing and, having made just one appearance this season, is all but certain to leave the club in the summer (PICTURE CREDIT: left, Nick Potts/Press Association, centre left, John Sibley/Action Images, centre right, Nick Potts/Press Association, right, Clive Mason/Getty Images) Photograph: Action Images

Out Cesc Fábregas (Aug 2011 £30m) Having made his debut aged just 16 and 177 days, the Spaniard went on to become of the most accomplished midfielders in Arsenal’s history. He took over as captain of the side following Henry’s departure and was their driving force prior to rejoining his boyhood club Barcelona two summers ago Photograph: PAUL ELLIS/AFP

In Mikel Arteta (Aug 2011 £10m) Thomas Eisfeld (Jan 2012 £420k) Arteta has impressed at Arsenal, but having signed at the age of 29 he arguably arrived past his peak and, as such, is unlikely to reach the heights scaled by Fábregas. Eisfield, meanwhile, has featured just once for Wenger’s men – as a substitute in their 7-5 victory over Reading last October – and having recently turned 20, has already missed his chance of becoming the club’s next teenage midfield sensation (PICTURE CREDIT: left, Michael Regan/Getty Images, right, David Davies/Press Association Images Photograph: Getty

Out Samir Nasri (Aug 2011 £24m) Given his current struggles at Manchester City it is easy to forget that the Frenchman blossomed into a key attacking threat for Arsenal following his arrival from Marseille in July 2008. He scored 15 goals during the 2010-11 season, which proved to be his final campaign with the club Photograph: Michael Regan/Getty Images

In Gervinho (Jul 2011 £10.5m) Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Aug 2011 £12m) Gervinho is arguably the embodiment of modern Arsenal – a skilful player who severely lacks consistency and, overall, is simply not at the level of those who have gone before. Oxlade-Chamberlain undeniably has the potential to be a high-quality acquisition, but he remains a raw talent and stands as an example of Arsenal’s reliance on youth over proven experience (PICTURE CREDIT: left, Mike Hewitt/Getty Images, right, Clive Mason/Getty Images Photograph: Getty

Out Robin van Persie (Aug 2012 £24m) Having seen his early years at Arsenal blighted by injury, the Dutchman finally proved his world-class credentials last season when he scored 37 goals for the team and went on to be named as the PFA’s player of the year. Established as Wenger’s talisman and captain, the 29-year-old was allowed to join Manchester United last summer where he has continued to score goals with devastating regularity Photograph: Yui Mok/PA Archive/Press Association Ima

In Olivier Giroud (Jun 2012 £13m) Lukas Podolski (Jul 2012 £11m) After a slow start Giroud has become a popular figure among Arsenal supporters, scoring 14 goals so far in his debut season at the club. But the Frenchman is not in the class of Van Persie when it comes to leading the line and it was telling that he could not find a starting place for the match against Bayern Munich. Podolski started and scored against Bayern, and he too has won the respect of the Emirates faithful. But equally, the German appears to be lacking in comparison to Van Persie. Photograph: Laurence Griffiths/Getty