THE 6 PLAYERS LET GO BY ARSENAL LAST SUMMER AND HOW THEY’VE FARED SINCE

Mikel Arteta has been well-backed during his time at Arsenal, but he’s also had to say goodbye to some high-profile stars over the years.

Arsenal’s title charge fizzled out but they still massively exceeded pre-season expectations to finish second behind Manchester City, with last summer’s signings particularly influential. For the players that left departed year, it’s been a bit of a mixed bag.

We’ve revisited the six players that Arsenal let go in 2022 and checked out how they’ve fared since. Note: we have only included players that have made at least one first-team appearance for Arsenal.

Alexandre Lacazette

The goals eventually dried up for the Frenchman at Arsenal as he only scored four league goals during his final season at the Emirates.

He’s since managed to rekindle his goalscoring touch with Lyon. He scored 27 league goals in his first season back with his hometown club, ultimately ending up just one behind Kylian Mbappe in Ligue 1’s race for the Golden Boot. That’s as many goals as he scored in his last three Premier League campaigns combined.

Konstantinos Mavropanos

After spending the previous two seasons on loan with Stuttgart, the Greek defender made his move permanent in the summer. He played 28 league games this season, which is seven more than he ever managed at Arsenal.

He was one of the more consistent performers for the German outfit last term, but he has been guilty of a blunder or two.

Matteo Guendouzi

Guendouzi made his move to Marseille permanent last summer after he’d spent the year before on loan at the Orange Velodrome.

French outlets reported that the 23-year-old had a ‘lively altercation’ with manager Igor Tudor during pre-season, but the beef was squashed and he was a regular starter since.

The fiery midfielder enjoyed a solid season at the Stade Velodrome and has even been linked with making a Premier League return to… Tottenham. That’d be interesting.

Bernd Leno

Leno lost his way towards the end at Arsenal as Aaron Ramsdale took his place as number one. But the German goalkeeper reminded us all of just how good he is though after a great start to life at Fulham.

Only Brentford’s David Raya has made more saves this season in the Premier League than Leno, who greatly contributed to Fulham’s excellent season.

Lucas Torreira

After spending his last couple of seasons out on loan while at Arsenal, Torreira made the permanent switch to Galatasaray in the summer.

The 27-year-old settled into life in Turkey well as he is a regular starter for Okan Buruk’s side. Galatasaray romped home to the Super Lig title, and it’ll be interesting to see how they fare in the Champions League next season – having just added Wilfried Zaha to a squad that already contains Nicolo Zaniolo, Angelino and Dries Mertens.

Hector Bellerin

After 239 appearances for the Gunners, Bellerin called it quits last summer and joined boyhood club Barcelona. His stint in Spain was fairly short-lived though as he made just seven appearances before leaving in January.

He since went on to spend a similarly short-lived stint with Sporting Lisbon. He racked up a fair few appearances for the Portuguese giants but was absent when they knocked his former club out of the Europa League in March and became a free agent at the end of the campaign.

Bellerin has recently re-joined Real Betis, for whom he produced his best football in recent years, whilst out on loan from the Gunners in 2021-22.

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every player to appear for Arsenal under Mikel Arteta?

2023-03-10T07:38:12Z dg43tfdfdgfd