The Gunners have won two Premier League titles and a host of other domestic honours since the year 2000 – but who were their best performers?
Arsenal began the 21st century as one of the best two teams in England. Twenty-five years on, they are in the same position. However, the years in between saw the club's fortunes fade considerably.
While the early 2000s represented one of the greatest eras in the Gunners' history, capped off by the iconic 2003-04 Invincibles season, the 2010s were characterised by disappointment as Arsene Wenger struggled to continue to weave his magic in a fast-changing footballing landscape.
At the end of that decade, the arrival of Mikel Arteta kickstarted the process of Arsenal returning to title-contender status, but that journey has been far from painless, with the Spaniard overseeing some of the toughest seasons in living memory.
But even when Arsenal have experienced lean times, there have always been plenty of amazing players to help keep fans entertained. From the mentality monsters who inspired the Premier League title-winning campaigns, to the new heroes who have helped restore the good times under Arteta more recently, GOAL ranks the absolute cream of the crop from the past quarter of a century…
Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱Getty Images25Sylvain Wiltord
When Sylvain Wiltord latched onto Freddie Ljungberg's strike against Manchester United in May 2002, he ensured he'd never be forgotten by the Arsenal faithful. That scrappy goal secured the Premier League title, and it wouldn't be the last time the Frenchman would make a decisive contribution to his team's success, as he also set up Ray Parlour's stunning goal in the 2002 FA Cup final.
Although Wiltord would often play second fiddle to Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp, he would always cause problems whenever he was introduced from the bench or started as a right winger. If not for his inflated fee – he would remain Arsenal's club-record signing for eight-and-a-half years until the arrival of Andrey Arshavin – he'd likely be even more fondly remembered in north London.
AdvertisementGetty Images24Bacary Sagna
Bacary Sagna is an interesting case. Signed amid relatively little fanfare from French side Auxerre in 2007, he left for Manchester City seven years later with only one piece of silverware, an FA Cup in his final season, to show for his efforts. Yet, although Sagna's trophy cabinet is hardly bulging, he never let Arsenal down at right-back.
Other defenders of his era offered more offensively, but when it came to stopping his opposite number, he was among the world's elite. Dominant in the air and on the ground, he took plenty of knocks but never stayed down for long. Sagna would eventually appear close to 300 times for the Gunners and only left after becoming frustrated that Arsenal were letting their best players depart.
Getty Images23Laurent Koscielny
Laurent Koscielny was Arsenal's defensive kingpin for close to a decade. Admittedly, he made a slightly shaky start, but once he established himself, he became impossible to dislodge from the starting XI.
What made the Frenchman so effective at centre-back was his freakish agility. Even when the Gunners' high line was breached, Koscielny had the legs to get back and mop up the danger. He could pass it too, spraying laser-focused raspers into the Arsenal front line several times a game, while he even had a knack for scoring important goals.
His career ended in disappointing fashion, with Koscielny refusing to attend the club's pre-season tour of the United States in order to force a move back to his native France. Still, what a player he was in his prime.
Getty Images22Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Forget how it ended, before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was sent packing by Mikel Arteta, his time at Arsenal was filled with goals, goals and more goals. In the end, he racked up 92 strikes in just 163 appearances, a strike-rate superior to all but the very best centre-forwards that have graced the Premier League.
During his first half-season in north London, he registered more goal contributions than appearances (14 in 13 games) and he followed up this incredible start with successive 22-goal league campaigns in 2018-19 and 2019-20. After that, things got more tricky, but without Aubameyang, Arsenal would not have savoured FA Cup success in 2020, with the Gabon international grabbing a brace at an empty Wembley against Chelsea.