The Arsenal fans in the Football Transfer Tavern have seen some great loan players over the years…
After over two decades at the helm of Arsenal, Arsene Wenger has had an unbelievable 209 players play under him for the Gunners.
Of that 209, there was the great – think Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp to name only a couple. There was the good – Cesc Fabregas and Marc Overmars spring to mind. And unfortunately but almost unavoidably, there were the bad – Nicolas Bendtner the obvious contender who the crown of worst ever Arsenal player.
Thankfully in the case of the Gunners there have been far more of the good and great than that of the bad, which in itself is a representation of the brilliant job Frenchman Arsene Wenger has done at the club during his 20-year tenure.
Not all of those 209 have been permanent players for the club, however, with Wenger more than happy to look to the loan market to help complete his squads.
Our landlord thinks these three are the best loan deals the former AS Monaco manager has managed to secure, do you agree?
Thierry Henry
The return of the King.
Having left the club as a legend back 2007 for Barcelona and subsequently the New York Red Bulls, it was written in the stars that the talismanic Frenchman would one day return to his old stomping ground.
That return was brief, but boy was it memorable as Henry scored two winning goals in 7 appearances to remind the Emirates faithful just why he was named the club’s best ever player.
Yossi Benayoun
Trying to name a club that Yossi Benayoun hasn’t played for might be more difficult than you think.
The former Liverpool, Chelsea, West Ham, QPR and of course Arsenal man may just be one of the Premier League’s most underrated players of recent times, as the Israel international has found success at almost every club he has been at.
Joining Arsenal on a year-long loan in 2011 proved another one of the midfielders better moves, as he helped the Gunners finish third, bagging himself six goals along the way and producing one of the performances of the season against Tottenham in a memorable 5-2 win.
Julio Baptista
Many may argue that the signing of Baptista was a failure – besides his obvious four-goal performance against Liverpool – however, our punters disagree.
Baptista was never a striker, the Brazilian operated best as a deep-lying forward but more so as an attacking midfielder who would bring team-mates into play and take defenders out of it.
The powerhouse midfielder scored 10 goals in 35 appearances for the Gunners, an impressive record – and helped Arsenal reach the League Cup final where they, unfortunately, lost to rivals Chelsea 2-1.
