The veteran manager has made some great signings over the years – here, Goal runs through the Frenchman's finest recruits
Getty Images NICOLAS ANELKA | From PSG | £500,000 | 1997
Anelka broke into the Arsenal first team as a teenager after an injury to Ian Wright and ended up being a key part of the Gunners' double win in 1997-98.
He won the PFA Young Player of the Year Award in his second season as an Arsenal player but the supporters eventually turned on Anelka after his body language became more negative on the pitch amid transfer speculation.
Anelka joined Real Madrid for £22.3 million in the summer of 1999, after making 90 appearances for Arsenal and scoring 28 goals.
Wenger hinted that Anelka’s decision to leave north London for Madrid was predominantly a financial one with this great quote: "No matter how much money you earn, you can only eat three meals a day and sleep in one bed."
AdvertisementGetty ImagesSOL CAMPBELL | Free transfer | 2001
In one of the most surprising moves English football has ever seen, Sol Campbell’s decision to let his contract at Tottenham expire before joining Arsenal in the summer of 2001 was quite spectacular.
"[Arsenal vice-chairman] David Dein made me feel protected. He was going to help and promised to be there for me. 'Come to us, he said, and you will be part of our family. We will protect you.'"
Campbell wanted to play Champions League football and took the brave decision to join Wenger’s side – one which proved to be the right one. An unbeaten season was the highlight of Campbell’s Arsenal career in 2003-04 but his goal in the 2006 Champions League final won’t be forgotten either.
He even returned to the club for a second stint in 2010 due to injuries to Thomas Vermaelen and William Gallas.
GettyCESC FABREGAS | From Barcelona | €1m | 2003
Fabregas became Arsenal’s youngest-ever first team player when he made his debut in a League Cup tie at home to Rotherham in October 2003.
The Spaniard went on to become one of the best central midfielders in European football, winning a catalogue of trophies at international level with Spain – including two European Championships and a World Cup.
"Cesc Fabregas typifies what Arsenal is today,” said Wenger. “It's a mixture of boys who grew up here, and boys who join at the age of 16 from abroad and we develop them as players"
He was named as successor to William Gallas as Arsenal captain in the 2008-09 season where he led a team built up of mostly young players – Samir Nasri, Theo Walcott and Alex Song to name a few – but there was always the undercurrent of interest from his former club Barcelona which ended up unsettling him.
After eight years at Arsenal, Fabregas took a salary cut to join his boyhood club Barcelona in 2011 with the transfer fee totalling almost £35m
Getty ImagesTHIERRY HENRY | From Juventus | £10.5m | 1999
Arguably the best player to have worn the Arsenal shirt, Thierry Henry’s glut of 228 goals turned him into a legend at the club where his greatest moments are still talked about today.
The Frenchman arrived at the club in 1999 as a skinny winger who couldn’t get a shot on target and left as an accomplished striker who scored every type of goal you could imagine.
"Thierry Henry could take the ball in the middle of the park and score a goal that no one else in the world could score,” said Wenger.
Henry’s eight years at Arsenal coincided with the famous unbeaten season and he left for Barcelona in 2007 with three league titles, three FA Cups, four Golden Boots and five Player of the Year awards to his name.