Arsenal sold a "future legend" for just 5m, now he's worth 560% more

Arsène Wenger will forever go down in Arsenal history after his 22-year stint as the club’s manager leading them to countless trophies along the way.

The Frenchman won three Premier League titles during his reign in North London whilst also winning seven FA Cups – helping the Gunners be the most successful team in the competition’s history.

Wenger was responsible for recruiting many of the club’s icons, with the likes of Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira joining the club.

However, he missed out on countless players who would’ve allowed for the now 72-year-old to enjoy more success during his time in charge at Highbury and the Emirates.

He also allowed one exciting young player to leave London in 2016, with the talent now excelling and undoubtedly one of the stars of European football in recent years.

Arsenal’s transfer window in the summer of 2016/17

Towards the end of this tenure in the capital, Wenger was subject to a lot of discontent from the fanbase as they wanted the club to return to the levels previously reached by the Frenchman.

In an attempt to mount a push for the Premier League title for the 2016/17 season, he recruited heavily with the signings of Granit Xhaka, Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez.

The trio cost the club just shy of £100m, but it’s safe to say two of the signings weren’t a hit at the Emirates – costing the club a huge amount of money for very little impact.

Mustafi and Perez both struggled to make an immediate impact and despite the club forking out over £50m on the aforementioned duo, they ultimately departed the club for a combined total of just £5m – a signal of the club’s poor business in the market.

Incomings were one issue, departures were another, with the club needing to offload some youngsters to allow them to gain valuable first-team minutes elsewhere.

However, they decided to permanently offload one star who has gone on to achieve massive things since his Arsenal exit during the summer of 2016, with his market value skyrocketing as a result.

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Your star player or biggest flop has left the club but what are they doing in the present day? This article is part of Football FanCast’s Where Are They Now series.

Serge Gnabry’s market value after leaving Arsenal

After a failed loan stint to West Brom during the 2015/16 season, Arsenal decided to permanently replace offload winger Serge Gnabry to Bundesliga side Werder Bremen for just £5m – a deal that would undoubtedly come back to bite the Gunners.

The now 29-year-old, who was previously dubbed a “future legend” by talent scout Jacek Kulig, has since moved to Bayern Munich – a move that would allow the German to star in Europe.

Gnabry has made 247 appearances for the German giants, scoring 88 times and playing a huge part in their Champions League triumph back in the 2019/20 season.

He even scored four times in one game against Arsenal’s bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur during the same campaign – still having an impact against their North London rivals years after his departure.

However, as a result of his stellar displays in Germany, the winger has seen a huge increase in value, with Gnabry now valued at £33m as per Transfermarkt, although that isn’t even his peak value.

His subsequent value is an increase of around 560% on the fee the Gunners sold him for, with Wenger’s decision to offload the talent certainly looking like a mistake eight years on.

The decision to move him on was understandable given his poor loan spell at West Brom, however, another loan move could’ve helped ignite his promising career.

As a result of the sale, Arsenal have been left to rue the transfer, with his talents certainly handing current boss Mikel Arteta another sensational attacking talent in his hopes of ending the club’s two-decade wait for a league title.

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