Here's a look at the 10 most expensive Arsenal signings of all time, with some of the league's current leaders starting out. Still, he scored an impressive 92 goals in 163 games for Arsenal. Here, GOAL analyzes the 15 most expensive signings in Arsenal's history. Signing Bergkamp today would cost Arsenal 117.3 million pounds.
For a player who would change the entire perception of the club over 11 years and 423 games, it's no surprise that he easily remains his record signing, considering inflation. With 185 goals in 288 games for the Gunners, Wright burst onto the scene at Arsenal after having impressed at Crystal Palace, and has always been considered one of the most adored and enthusiastic characters in the club's history. Marc Overmars, an example of the fruitful relationship that Arsenal has maintained with Dutch football over the years, is another example of a player whose impact on the Premier League could have been much greater if it hadn't been for Arsenal's sensible transfer model. At that time, women's football had little or no money and the financial news focused on the salaries of the players; Domingues received more attention because of the record salary she was going to receive, although she never ended up playing for Rayo Vallecano, the club that signed her, because non-Spanish players could not play in the Spanish women's league at that time.
Like so many others, the midfielder's career at Arsenal would end when he was presented with an apparently better opportunity, this time with his return to his childhood club, Barça, but there were many positive aspects worth mentioning during the midfielder's career in the Emirates. As one of the most respected clubs among Europe's big hitters, Arsenal has continued to be part of the continental elite thanks to the good use of the transfer market over the past 30 years. Most of the transfers on this list are made to clubs under UEFA's jurisdiction, and most of the clubs that buy are from England, Italy and Spain. Probably the best player to have dared to play for both North London clubs throughout his career, Sol Campbell's Arsenal career differed mainly in trophy counting compared to his tenure at White Hart Lane.
Nwankwo Kanu will always be remembered for leading Arsenal's line during one of the club's most prolific title periods, although not always as the most outstanding forward in his ranks. One of the many French investments that Wenger opted for, Gael Clichy's eight years at Arsenal, sadly coincided too much with the start of the club's infamous trophy drought. Fifteen years at any club is impressive; 15 years at a club of Arsenal's caliber are nothing short of outstanding. That is, of course, if you call it getting the most out of signing a player who had lost his form before turning him into one of the most devastating strikers in football history, who to this day remains Arsenal's top scorer.
Any forward who reaches double digits in four consecutive seasons, as he did in his first four seasons with Arsenal, is an advantage for his team, but Lacazette failed to lead Arsenal to the Champions League. Lauren, a kind of Emmanuel Eboue figure before Arsenal's faithful met Eboue, became one of the most versatile and willing assets available to the club during his career for the Invincibles. The club they were going to leave set a sales price and, if no other club was willing to pay (and the player didn't move to a club outside of Spain), the original club had to re-sign the player with a salary increase equal to a percentage of the starting price. The moment when he broke Cliff Bastin's record of 178 goals and became the club's all-time top scorer in September 1997 will always be remembered in the holy halls of the Emirates, demonstrating that, while venues may come and go, the history of a club can never be erased, nor that of an individual.
