Opinion: The 15 Gunners Who Played for Both Arsenal and Chelsea – Ranked Worst to Best

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·03 de julho de 2025

Opinion: The 15 Gunners Who Played for Both Arsenal and Chelsea – Ranked Worst to Best

Arsenal’s latest signing, Chelsea keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, is the 16th player in the Premier League era to play for both Chelsea and Arsenal.

The Gunners mostly brought talent from Stamford Bridge who were past their peak, while those who made a name for themselves at Highbury or the Emirates moved to West London in their prime. While nine players moved directly to North London across the English capital, only two went straight to Kings Road in the opposite direction. Four did a detour along the way.

Vídeos OneFootball

Here, ranked from worst to best, are the 15 Gunners who played for both Arsenal and Chelsea, taking into account how they performed at both clubs.

15 – Lassana Diarra

Given what he would achieve in Spain and France, both London clubs missed an opportunity with the midfielder. Jose Mourinho was never bothered about giving youth a chance, but Diarra seemed perfectly suited to the Emirates.

At a time when Mr Wenger was giving youngsters plenty of chances, it was rare for our manager to give up on a hot prospect after just five months. A year later he had lifted the FA Cup with Portsmouth, who then sold him to Real Madrid for £20 million.

14 – Yossi Benayoun

The first player in the Premier League era to be loaned between the two clubs, the Israeli actually played and scored more in one season at the Emirates than in his two at the Bridge.

It took an 8-2 humiliation at Old Trafford to force through a late trolley dash on deadline day. Essentially replacing Fabregas and Nasri with Benayoun and Arteta was an anti-climax, but the two actually gave a young dressing room much-needed experience. It should have been done years earlier.

13 – Raheem Sterling

The 30-year-old’s legacy will not be at any part of London but in Manchester. At first glance, Mikel Arteta loaning a player he helped coach at the Etihad seemed like a no-brainer. Bringing in an experienced winner to give leadership to a young squad.

With Arsenal only covering 30 percent of his wage, it seemed risk-free, yet we quickly realised why Chelsea did not want to register him anymore. Whether it is a loss of confidence, hunger or something deeper, it is sad to see someone still so young a shadow of his former self.

12 – Kai Havertz

Divides opinion. Very few would say the German is not a talented footballer. If he did not happen to be one of the highest-paid players in Arsenal’s history, there would not be such a spotlight.

There are a lot of things the 26-year-old does well. He can hold the ball up, win free kicks, has great intelligence and is capable in the air in both boxes. Yet he is simply not a natural finisher, and it is unfair he has been left in the position of our first-choice striker. Especially when there was years of evidence at Stamford Bridge that he was never going to score 20-30 league goals every season.

The original plan was for him and Odegaard to be two number 10s playing off one defensive midfielder, but it was our manager trying to be too clever. I wrote it at the time, the size of the fee may haunt Mikel Arteta forever. You do not win titles with Kai Havertz leading the line.

Kai Havertz

11 – Aubameyang

The decision to simply give our best striker to Barcelona without a replacement continues to divide opinion. Not helped by losing matchday revenue due to the pandemic, for the second year running Arsenal had buyer’s remorse, and with the priority to slash the wage bill, like Ozil, our highest earner was paid to have his contract ripped up.

The 36-year-old was not innocent, reporting late for training on a couple of occasions, but if our manager wanted to, surely all parties could have found a compromise until the end of the season before going their separate ways?

As the Gunners were missing out on the top four due to lack of firepower, our ex-captain was scoring for fun in Spain. It was Thomas Tuchel who wanted to reunite with Aubameyang in London, the two having worked together in Dortmund.

Yet when Chelsea changed managers it was clear Graham Potter felt the player had lost his powers, not registering him to play in the Champions League.

10 – Willian

Out of respect to Arsenal, the Brazilian has never detailed why he just could not settle in his one year at the Emirates.

Was it due to the bizarre time that was Covid? That meant he never got to play in front of Gooners, and some players during the pandemic simply struggled playing in empty stadiums.

I think, like some of his peers, he struggled walking into a Gunners dressing room in Chelsea colours. At the Bridge he would have worked with leaders, experience and strict standards. He swapped that for a young squad who had just finished 8th and were in transition.

9 – Jorginho

Ironically, the Italian beat Arsenal in the Europa League Final to lift a trophy in his debut year in England. The apex of his career was winning the Champions League and Euros in the same summer, culminating in him finishing third in the Ballon d’Or awards.

The midfielder was the perfect squad player for Mikel Arteta to bring in and help a young dressing room. Many of his peers have described him as the manager’s eyes and ears on the pitch, so do not be surprised if he returns one day as a coach. Meanwhile, Jorginho departed Arsenal this summer, for Flamengo.

8 – Giroud

Left the Emirates to little fanfare because his departure helped facilitate the arrival of Aubameyang. Little did anyone know it at the time, but it would be the Frenchman who would add another FA Cup, a Champions League and Europa League to his CV.

Which was fitting, because the striker has made a living out of proving people wrong. He was not doing anything different at the Bridge, but their fans seemed to appreciate him more.

Given he is only one of 19 men to score over 100 goals as a Gunner, he deserved more respect. I know some readers on here who called Giroud all kinds of names, yet will then praise an Eddie Nketiah.

7 – Petit

Having formed one of the greatest midfield partnerships in Arsenal’s history, Petit has admitted numerous times regretting leaving Highbury. He blames moving to Spain on his ex-wife who did not want to live in England.

When she agreed to move back, she insisted they live again in London, costing the Frenchman a move to Man United. A return to North London was on the table, but the player felt his old boss had not battled for him to stay in the first place.

It was a blessing in disguise, as a knee issue suffered at Barcelona would never heal, an injury he downplayed on his Chelsea medical to get one last payday. Then he got divorced.

6 – Gallas

When Arsenal agreed to swap Ashley Cole with William Gallas, many at the time assumed the Gunners had got the best end of the deal. After all, his defensive partnership with John Terry had been dominant while the defender was also versatile.

Where the Frenchman struggled was leading a young squad at the Emirates. You could tell almost immediately he had left a dressing room of winners and personalities and found a different environment at his new home.

No one can blame the defender for being a winner, but his lack of leadership qualities defined his legacy in North London. He famously lost his head at Birmingham even though we were still top of the table at the time, and would berate Theo Walcott in front of the cameras. These were youngsters who needed an arm round the shoulder. Eventually, his lack of warmth cost him the captaincy.

5 – David Luiz

Often ridiculed for his lapses in concentration, but then go look at his CV. Gary Neville has since apologised for once describing watching the 38-year-old’s defending like someone controlling him on PlayStation.

Yet you cannot win what he has and not have done something right. The Brazilian is actually a strong character who is at his best when he is written off (outside of the 2014 World Cup).

Even at Arsenal, his two best performances were easily the FA Cup semi-final and final. That sums up his career.

4 – Anelka

Another player who has admitted regretting leaving Highbury when he did. Given what he has won in his career, including domestic doubles at both London clubs, it feels harsh to say the striker underachieved.

Yet it would be fair to say he never quite became the superstar many envisaged when he was introduced to England as a teenager. Influenced by his brothers, the Frenchman essentially toured the world, playing for the highest bidder, meaning he never built a legacy in one place.

Mr Wenger bought the player for £500,000 and sold him two years later for £23 million. That paid for a new training ground and a certain… Thierry Henry. The best deal in our history?

3 – Cech

Obviously high on this list for almost exclusively his legacy at Stamford Bridge, where he won every possible domestic honour. Chelsea’s entire back five were a machine in their first two Premiership wins.

Such is the respect the keeper had that Roman Abramovich felt the player had earned the right to choose his next move. So when Cech said his family wanted to remain living in London, he did not stand in his way to move to the Emirates.

Alternatively, one of the big issues Jose Mourinho clashed with the owners on during his second stint at the club was giving Arsenal such a quality goalkeeper. Unfortunately, under Unai Emery, massive emphasis was on your goalkeeper playing from the back and being comfortable with the ball at his feet. Cech was too old to be learning a whole new role.

2 – Fabregas

In many ways became the face of Arsenal in the transitional period between moving from Highbury to the Emirates. Arsene Wenger had chosen to change the type of player he wanted, now picking shorter talent but technically gifted.

Captain at the age of 21, Fabregas led some really gifted sides, but he himself was frustrated that a young squad were not given more leaders to help guide them through key moments of matches and seasons.

As part of his deal when returning to Barcelona, the Gunners had first refusal to buy back the Spaniard. The midfielder made it clear his choice was returning to North London, but Mr Wenger let the clause expire, later saying he felt the need to set an example to his dressing room that you could not just come back if the grass proved not greener elsewhere.

Wanting to live again in the English capital, he would lift five trophies at Stamford Bridge. For how he played in the Premiership, it would have been an insult if he did not have a title medal to show for his time in the UK.

1 – Ashley Cole

Number one on this list because you could argue he was the best left back in the world when playing. One of the few listed who can say he had great success at both clubs.

Gooners were so angry when he left because of how much they loved him. Graduating from our academy, he should have been a future captain and the face of the transitional period from Highbury to the Emirates.

The defender believed that was the plan, verbally agreeing to a contract extension. Even though David Dein has since clarified that it was Arsenal’s board who went back on their promise (no different to what Gyokeres has accused Sporting Lisbon of doing), many have forgiven the player for winning every possible domestic honour at Chelsea.

Working under the likes of Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti, he became better at his defensive work, but it was in North London where he was more exciting to watch. His partnership with Pires and Henry on the left side contributed to the most successful period in Arsenal’s history.

Let me know how you would rank the 15 players to play for Arsenal and Chelsea in the comments.

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