Arsenal's 11 biggest sales include Nicolas Anelka and Gabriel Martinelli

Arsenal's 11 biggest sales were listed on 2026-08-31, featuring departures that range from Nicolas Anelka to Gabriel Martinelli. The compilation records Gabriel Martinelli as the club’s most expensive sale, with Al Hilal reported to have paid about €70 million.

The list underscores that Arsenal have regularly lost leading players and received substantial fees in return, often to clubs inside the Premier League. It covers transfers across multiple eras of the club, citing moves tied to successes such as the 1997–98 double and departures that reshaped squads in later seasons.

Eddie Nketiah departed Arsenal in 2024 when Crystal Palace paid €29.7 million for the striker; his first season at Selhurst Park is described as disappointing. Folarin Balogun, after a loan with Reims in 2022–2023, left because of limited opportunities behind Eddie Nketiah, Gabriel Jesus and the arrival of Kai Havertz, with AS Monaco signing him for €30 million.

Alex Iwobi had become a regular at Arsenal before his €30.4 million move to Everton; he made 149 appearances for the club and scored in his final Arsenal appearance, a 4-1 Europa League final defeat to Chelsea. The list also records that Iwobi later left Everton to join Fulham in 2023 for €25.7 million.

Robin van Persie is listed among the big sales after his 2012 switch to Manchester United for €30.7 million following a refusal to sign a new contract; his first season at Old Trafford produced a Premier League title under Sir Alex Ferguson. Emile Smith Rowe left Arsenal in the summer of 2024 after two seasons largely spent on the bench and joined Fulham for €31.8 million, with the compilation noting a strong debut season at Craven Cottage.

Cesc Fàbregas is recorded as having left Arsenal for Barcelona in 2011 after emerging from the club’s youth ranks; the list credits him with helping Barcelona win the Spanish Cup in his first season and LaLiga in his second, and notes his subsequent 2014 move back to England with Chelsea. Alexis Sánchez’s departure to Manchester United in 2018 is included alongside his Arsenal record of 166 appearances, 80 goals and 45 assists and the statistic that he scored three goals in 32 Premier League games for United. Nicolas Anelka is cited for his role in Arsenal’s 1997–98 Premier League and FA Cup double before leaving for Real Madrid in 1999, a move he later said he should not have made.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s transfer to Liverpool for €38 million in 2017 appears on the list after 198 appearances and three FA Cup wins for Arsenal across seven seasons; the compilation records that injuries limited his impact at Anfield and that he departed on a free transfer in 2023. Marc Overmars is included for a 2000 move to Barcelona after three seasons that contributed to Arsenal’s 1997–98 domestic double. The entry for Gabriel Martinelli states he became Arsenal’s most expensive sale with Al Hilal paying about €70 million for the 25-year-old on a four-year contract, ending a seven-year spell that began with his 2019 arrival from Ituano and leaving him with 62 goals in 278 games; the piece also contains a separate line that records a fee of €34m for a move to a Spanish club.

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