Former Arsenal Players Thread
Loved Cesc like a brother when he was here. Had he stayed with us or left amicably like Theirry did for example, he'd probably be right next to Henry as my all time favourite Arsenal player. The way he left for Barcelona and came back to join Chelsea has really made me completely indifferent about him though. He was just a good player that played for us, nothing more. Just like van Persie, who I absolutely despise, he will go down as an excellent player that isn't considered a legend in any of the clubs he played for. Which is pretty sad when it comes to legacies. But I guess they have their trophies, maybe that makes up for it. I'm not sure it does though. I bet the love the likes of Ian Wright feel from Arsenal fans decades after playing for us is something you'd swap some trophies for.
est yeah. No Barcelona fab speaks of him in the way they do rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Messi, Xavi etc. and Chelsea fans appreciate their trophy mercenaries but will never revere him the way they do Drogba, Terry or Lamps.
We actually lost the chance to build these types of characters due to both not winning trophies but also our high star turnover. Who are our legends post 2006?
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https://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/03/arsene-wenger-cesc-fabregas-arsenal-chelsea
In 2014 - Wenger said Fabregas wanted to return, he was informed that he might go to Chelsea, but that we didn't need any offensive players after signing Ozil.
Wenger said he believes that a deal was struck in early 2014, but Fabregas said he hadn't even decided to leave Barcelona until the final game of the season after they lost the title.
https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/news/arsene-wengers-brutal-reason-making-28894367
In 2020 - Wenger said in a podcast - 'It was a general guidance from me to have that, to make the players [realises] 'Look if you go out here, you don't come back'."
In a 2020 chat on the Arsecast podcast, Fabregas revealed: "My agent Darren [Dein] spoke to Arsene. He didn't give him an answer to be honest, then we had to wait one full week to see if Arsenal responded."
"Definitely this was my first option, in my mind I'm telling everyone I'm going to Arsenal, this is what I want. Not Arsene, [Ivan] Gazidis or anyone said anything for a week.
"I didn't want to be a beggar. We told them once, they know the situation if in one week they hadn't said anything... straightaway I knew that probably they didn't want me back.
They could have said after three hours they didn't want me back so I could have spoken to other teams. They waited the whole week without giving me a response and still since then, no response ever."
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Claudius We actually lost the chance to build these types of characters due to both not winning trophies but also our high star turnover. Who are our legends post 2006?
Probably none of these actually reach legendary status, but the likes of Sagna, Cazorla, Wilshere, Ramsey, Arshavin, Walcott, Szczesny, Monreal, Mertesacker and Rosicky are among the more memorable players that have a good relationship with most Arsenal fans even after leaving the club. Maybe just a tier below legend, because of how shit we were at that time. I'd add Arteta too, but a big part of his contribution has come after his playing days.
Right now we have a handful that have a real chance of becoming proper legends though. Hopefully all works out and we can keep this squad together and win some big trophies. 
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By and large, there's no real conflict between their statements, aside from the bit you quoted. Wenger also said we didn't need him and later said he made an example of him by not allowing him back. Fabregas said the club didn't want him and left him hanging.
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Wenger changed his tune years later but at the time he said what I quoted.
Either way fuck Fabregas. Even if your version of history is right it just means the way he left Arsenal was so shitty Wenger wouldn't have him back. That tells you all you need to know. He welcomed plenty of others back.
est Probably none of these actually reach legendary status, but the likes of Sagna, Cazorla, Wilshere, Ramsey, Arshavin, Walcott, Szczesny, Monreal, Mertesacker and Rosicky
Like yeah I don’t really connect with any of those guys. I love Cazorla and Ramsey mainly due to their cup final moments. And then obviously Tet and Mert have built their legacies post playing. But I don’t have a warm fuzzy recollection of the others
est Good shout, although for some reason Sagna don't really have any connections with Arsenal fans after joining Citeh, or maybe he just doesn't talk about us much. Would agree with the rest. Most of the players during our dry spell of 06-14 and chose to leave us while we are at our low all came to regret leaving us. Even Ramsey was absolutely terrible after he left us, total journeyman.
Chanced upon this video few days ago
His career really went to the gutters after leaving us. Could really have been a legend here.
Aside to that, I no longer have any animosity towards Cesc. He only has nice things to say about us, unlike that fucking rat RVP who still aims digs at Wenger every now and then
Hleb should've won player of the year in 2008.
est Probably none of these actually reach legendary status, but the likes of Sagna, Cazorla, Wilshere, Ramsey, Arshavin, Walcott, Szczesny, Monreal, Mertesacker and Rosicky are among the more memorable players that have a good relationship with most Arsenal fans even after leaving the club.
Podolski deserves a mention - he goes out of his way to have a connection with Arsenal fans via social media.
Arshavin has no connection with the club anymore but his transfer saga is still my favourite saga of all time.
Clrnc might be wrong, but I think Ramsey didn't actually want to leave Arsenal, his aim was to leverage a better contract - and maybe Arsenal (correctly as it turned out) worked out that they'd had his best years and called his bluff. But who knows for sure?
I love Bac Sagna, even ten years after he left, but again probably the right decision for club and player to part ways.
Mirth think Arshavin just came back to the club last year to watch one of the match. He gave an interview 3 years ago saying he had the best time of his life at our club as he loved life in London 
RocktheCasbah Yeah you're right. One of Emery best thing he did for our club is to call his bluff and rescinded the contract offer. If we signed him on that massive wage he would have been equivalent to the latter years Ozil. Agree about Sagna too but we wanted to keep him and he chose to join Citeh. He was absolutely horrible there too. City fans hated him when he started
Unretired
Wish we went for him instead of Neto
We apparently did talk to him and Chesney didn't want to move his family and he didn't want to be backup. This Barca gig just fell in his lap.
I still love Cesc. What a player. I'm not that bothered that he played for Chelsea. There are only so many clubs that could've afforded him and we weren't an option. So many people seem so hurt by it still, but big players leave big clubs for other big clubs all the time.
starting at barca vs backup at arsenal no matter how much you love the club is a no-brainer.