Ranking the 10 most expensive midfield transfers in Arsenal history

Arsenal are one of the biggest clubs in European football, and in recent years, they have shown a renewed willingness to spend and return to the summit of both English football and Europe as a whole.

In the past two summers, Arsenal have made two high-profile midfield signings in Declan Rice and Mikel Merino. Rice cost the club over a 100 million euros, as Arsenal needed to spend big in order to make sure they signed the West Ham star over title rivals Manchester City.

There’s no doubt that Rice was a big splash, but is he the biggest in the history of Arsenal midfield transfers? And where does the 32 million euro deal for Real Sociedad’s Mikel Merino rank?

Here are the top 10 most expensive midfield additions in Arsenal history. All prices are courtesy of Transfermarkt.

10. Santi Cazorla, €19M

Santi Cazorla is legitimately one of the greatest signings in Arsenal history. For less than 20 million euros, Arsenal signed an underrated superstar who was legitimately one of the best midfielders of the 2010s decade, only overshadowed by all the great Spanish talents.

Cazorla could “Croqueta” his way past any defender and was more than just an asset offensively.

9. Lucas Torreira, €28.65M

Lucas Torreira was a decent player, but only the most biased of Arsenal fans will try to justify that a rotational piece was worth 30 million euros. It didn’t take long for him to end up bouncing around on loans before flaming out into a six million euro transfer to Galatasaray.

8. Mikel Merino, €32M

Mikel Merino may have flopped in the Premier League previously at Newcastle, but anyone who watched him play for Real Sociedad understands the quality Arsenal are getting in this No. 8. He can boss the midfield positionally, win possession, create, and even score the odd goal from outside the box.

7. Henrik Mkhitaryan, €34M

Part of the bizarre, ill-fated Alexis Sanchez swap deal with Manchester United, Henrik Mkhitaryan would end up being more useful to Arsenal than Sanchez was to Man United – which was a huge surprise – but that difference was only marginal.

Mkhitaryan was poor for Arsenal, never reaching the heights he achieved at Dortmund in the Premier League. He has since gone on to become a quality player in Serie A, currently getting starts for reigning Champions Inter Milan.

6. Fabio Vieira, €35M

On loan to Porto after joining Arsenal from Porto in 2022 for 35 million euros, Fabio Vieira is clearly a talented attacking midfielder but simply doesn’t have the opportunity to break through at Arsenal.

That’s because the Gunners have one of the best No. 10’s in the business in Martin Odegaard, as well as another world-class playmaker in Kai Havertz. Vieira can provide a spark to Arsenal but only off the bench.

A return to Porto can help Vieira rehab his value, though it’s hard to see a path to the starting lineup in North London for the Portuguese 24-year-old, regardless of how well he performs in Liga NOS.

5. Martin Odegaard, €35M

Martin Odegaard was a 16-year-old phenom for Real Madrid who panned out, first shining in the Dutch Eredivise and then later becoming a legitimate LaLiga Player of the Season candidate in 2022/23 for Real Sociedad.

Despite his success in LaLiga, Odegaard couldn’t break into Zinedine Zidane’s first team at Real Madrid because of the sheer quality of veterans Luka Modric and Toni Kroos, as well as the emergence of a more well-rounded midfielder in Fede Valverde.

Odegaard went out on loan to Arsenal, balled out under Mikel Arteta, and loved it so much that he fought to stay in North London. The rest is history. Odegaard has since gone on to become Arsenal captain and one of the best players in the Premier League at any position. Bargain.

4. Granit Xhaka, €45M

Granit Xhaka’s transfer fee back in 2016 was a whopping one, but it ended up being a fair price for a player who, while often criticized in North London, eventually became respected.

A former captain in his own right, Xhaka could be a destroyer or produce fine moments of quality as a passer or goal-scorer for Arsenal, just as he did in the Bundesliga.

Now that he is back in the Bundesliga, Xhaka is a reigning champion, shining for an undefeated Bayer Leverkusen as if he never left Germany at all.

3. Mesut Ozil, €47M

Another former star of the Bundesliga, Mesut Ozil actually joined Arsenal directly from Real Madrid after establishing himself as the best passer in the final third in world football.

Ozil was Cristiano Ronaldo’s biggest help, once recording 30 assists in a single season. Although Ozil wasn’t quite as good for Arsenal with no player even a fraction as talented as a Cristiano or even Karim Benzema, he still managed to record 19 assists in one season.

His end at Arsenal may have been a bitter one due to an abruptly declining and one-dimensional playing style as world football moved to more modern playmakers like Martin Odegaard, Ozil was still a success at 47 million euros as one of the few legitimate superstars to play for the Gunners in the 2010s.

2. Thomas Partey, €50M

Although some Arsenal fans have tried to delude themselves into thinking Thomas Partey was an important part of the team and a good signing, the additions of Declan Rice, Mikel Merino, and even Jorginho have shed light on how limited of a player Partey is.

Poor technically and overrated defensively, Thomas is being phased out of the Arsenal lineup. How Atletico Madrid were able to get 50 million euros for a player who can be found on any average Ligue 1 or LaLiga team for 10 million euros in beyond me, but such was the state of Arsenal’s scouting from 2017-2020.

1. Declan Rice, €116.6M

Yes, Declan Rice was massively expensive, but he’s already shown that he’s worth the money. You have to pay a premium price for premium, young talent, and at the 6 spot, there was no bigger player in England than Rice when he became available from West Ham in 2023.

At the time of his transfer, Rice was 24 and coming off a great season for West Ham with the knowledge that he’d truly blossom on a top team like Manchester City or Arsenal.

Had Rice joined Rodri at the Etihad, it would have been game over for Arsenal in the Premier League.