Players who regretted leaving or asked to return to Arsenal
Now managing at Feyenoord, Robin van Persie is back in the spotlight.
With Manchester United hosting Arsenal on Sunday, the media used his Champions League press conference to ask the former striker to choose between his two former clubs: the one where he did his best work or the place where he earned the Premier League medal his talent deserved. Understandably, the 41-year-old was diplomatic, not wanting to disrespect either fanbase, so he refrained from picking between Thierry Henry and Wayne Rooney or Arsène Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson.
It’s fair to say that he would be welcomed back at Old Trafford more than at the Emirates. That, of course, could have happened had our draw for the last 16 in Europe gone differently. Our ex-captain made it clear that he enjoyed watching the Gunners’ 7-1 win over PSV, as he continues to mend a few broken fences with Arsenal fans. When recounting his transfer to Manchester United, Wenger added that if his former skipper had his way, he would have returned to North London in 2015. This influenced my next list: players who either verbally expressed regret about leaving Arsenal or asked to return.
Keown – Aston Villa
While technically the defender was motivated by money, he maintains that his principles led to the end of his first stint at Highbury. Considering the dispute was over £50, I believe him. Although it seems the club could have handled the situation better. Having graduated from the academy, the centre-back had a verbal agreement with Don Howe over terms for a contract extension. When Arsenal changed managers to George Graham, the Invincible felt disrespected by the change in deal. Despite it being only a £50 difference from what he had requested, he felt it was a sign that he wasn’t trusted by his new boss and that his employers were taking advantage of him, as he came from the youth setup.
He said, as quoted by The Sun, “I took myself away from Arsenal when I should never have left. I climbed the mountain, got in the team, and then you see you’ve got a £50-a-week pay rise, but well, okay, I’m jumping off the mountain because I will tell you when I’m leaving. That’s where I’d gone too far in the fight and I got too emotional because I didn’t want to leave at all. But then once I’ve done it, I’ve kind of made my bed and I had to sort of live with it.”
As early as on holiday, he was unsure about the move to Villa and wished he had been more streetwise at the time. Had he been, he would have realised he could have simply called Arsenal, as he still had time to legally cancel the transfer.
He returned in 1994. The rest is history.
Paul Merson – Middlesbrough
This is an uncomfortable entry, as the 56-year-old has since admitted that this decision was more a reflection of how severe his gambling addiction was at the time. The Sky Sports pundit is candid about struggling to adapt to the dietary and training methods Wenger introduced in 1996. The manager would have quickly been able to identify who was and wasn’t receptive to change. However, that’s not why the midfielder was happy to drop down a division.
“Do you know what? For the first time in my life, greed with my addictions. My addictions back then were really flying. Arsenal offered me a four-year deal on £580,000 a year – and Boro offered me a million pounds a year. I couldn’t quite get my head around it.”
Having spoken openly about his vices, he said that, with a clear mind, he would have stayed at his boyhood club.
Anelka – Real Madrid
Buying Anelka for just £500,000 and recouping £22 million two years later remains one of the best pieces of business in Arsenal’s history, especially as that money funded a new training ground and a certain Thierry Henry. While Anelka would go on to have a glittering career, he has since admitted he never quite reached the stardom that was evident at Highbury.
The 45-year-old maintains he doesn’t regret his career, but according to Wenger, when at Bolton, a return to North London was his preference.
“Nicolas wanted to come back here and I considered buying him because he wanted to put things right, but we have a strict policy that once a player has gone, we have to accept it. Maybe (it was the wrong decision)! He wanted to come back. Maybe it was a mistake. I felt that they would then have a hesitation to leave. I didn’t give them the feeling of ‘ok, I go somewhere else, I try it and if it doesn’t work, I come back.’ That’s why I didn’t do it, and overall maybe I should have done it. Nicolas still scored in 125 games overall in the Premier League, I think, something like that, so he could have helped us.”
Petit – Barcelona
It feels like once a year, Emmanuel Petit visits England and does the media circuit with some amusing stories. I’m sure he wasn’t laughing at the time, but the 54-year-old has said countless times that he never should have left North London. He wasn’t motivated by money but by love. He got married in 2000, and his wife made it clear she favoured sunny Spain over wet England.
“I should have stayed with Arsenal, definitely. You know, sometimes the grass is not greener somewhere else. It’s better to stay where you are when you receive love and happiness and you are successful. Why would you leave? Definitely [a big regret]. If I could turn the clock back, I would probably make a different decision.”
I wish I could say this was a romantic story, but two years later, he was divorced and back in London with Chelsea.
He has said Wenger was open to a reunion at the time, but that would contradict the stance the manager had at the time and would continue to have for many years regarding resigning players.
Overmars – Barcelona
This is kind of cheating, but the Dutchman did apparently send a text message to Ray Parlour in 2021, saying he would like to return to Arsenal.
Proving he’s still invested in his former club, he contacted his former teammate, saying, “I’ve had a text off him before saying, as quoted by The Mirror ‘Oh Ray, I need to go back to that club and sort it out.’” This was during a period when Overmars’s reputation in the sport was high due to his work as Sporting Director at Ajax. However, in 2022, he resigned after admitting to sending inappropriate messages to female colleagues. He’s only just returned from a 12-month FIFA ban for his behaviour, so it’s unlikely Arsenal will invite him for an interview.
Thierry Henry – Barcelona
In 2007, our greatest-ever player left to win the Champions League medal he deserved, realising it wasn’t going to happen in North London with Wenger transitioning from the Invincibles to a younger squad. While successful in Spain, the striker was never shy (even when still employed by Barcelona) to insist Arsenal were his true love. He would say:
“In life, you always go back to where you belong.”
Few could have believed he meant playing for us again in 2012 for two months. His return and goal became one of the iconic moments to happen at the Emirates. Since retiring, the 47-year-old has coached our underage groups and clearly has dreams of managing the Gunners one day. Only a few years ago, he was talking about buying the whole club.
Henry, Vieira and Bergkamp
Vieira admitted talking to Arsenal when they were shortlisting for a manager, while Bergkamp has said only a fear of flying has stopped him from accepting coaching opportunities at the club. Both, though, along with Thierry Henry, were adamant in 2021 that a partnership with Daniel Ek to offer to buy the club was genuine.
The legends quickly accepted the Kroenkes’ stance at the time that the club was not for sale. However, at a time when many Arsenal fans were unhappy with how the owners were running the club.
Hleb – Barcelona
Hleb was not the first or last to realise the grass wasn’t greener at the Nou Camp but is perhaps the most honest about it being a mistake. He admitted to being in tears on holiday when his agent informed him of the negotiations, and his mind was in a whirlwind. After just one year in Spain, he was being loaned out, and you sense he would have loved Wenger to have come calling.
Fabregas – Barcelona
Both player and manager have admitted this, but leaving Barcelona for the second time, Arsenal had a buy-back clause on their former captain, and the Spaniard made it clear that was his preference. When Arsenal let the time on that clause expire, the midfielder interpreted it as his ex-employers not being interested:
Van Persie – Manchester United
In his own words, Wenger wasn’t opposed to bringing back more experienced ex-Gunners but knew that resigning Van Persie at the age of 31 would have divided the fanbase. A young dressing room needed as much leadership as possible, and the striker had been proven correct about our owners’ lack of ambition (which he still holds), but that’s why this wouldn’t have been a good look. Some will feel it was audacious to even ask.
Sánchez – Manchester United
If there was ever an example of the grass not being greener, the Chilean regretted leaving Arsenal on his first day at his new job.
The manager originally was happy for the 36-year-old to run down his contract, trusting him to be professional enough to fire us back into the top 4 in his final season. Yet poor body language, tantrums, and even an apparent fight with his peers in training led the club to be happy to move him off the wage bill in January.
Jack Wilshere – West Ham
One of the classiest things Mikel Arteta has done as manager was inviting his old teammate back to the club to train. Our manager treated the player like a member of the squad in practice, even when inviting him on the mid-season trip to Dubai. At the time, the midfielder admitted, of course, he would be open to this, leading to a contract offer. In reality, he was still in denial that his mind was willing, but his body was not. After a short stint in Denmark, he accepted this and coached our underage teams.
This confirmed that Unai Emery was correct years earlier. One of the first things the Spaniard did was cancel the verbal agreement Super Jack had made with Wenger.
The now 33-year-old felt he had proven his fitness, as the club had asked. He was still offered a deal but with heavy incentives depending on how much he played. In other words, any time on the sidelines would see his pay drop dramatically.
(Only included players I saw, so older Gooners feel free to add some names).
Dan Smith
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