Arsenal have become a model club in the last few seasons, an example for other sides to look towards for how a few intelligent appointments and decisions can turn a side around.
Mikel Arteta's side came agonisingly close to winning the Premier League last season and have a real chance of going one step further this year.
The intelligent acquisitions of players like Martin Odegaard, Ben White, Gabriel Magalhães and Leandro Trossard have seen a team suffering in midtable mediocrity become one gunning for glory.
It was only a few years ago that one of the club's worst flops in recent memory earned more than Trossard does now.
Leandro Trossard's salary at Arsenal
Trossard has only been an Arsenal player for just over a year now, after completing his £27m move from Brighton & Hove Albion last January, but he's already made a sizable impact.
At the backend of last season, he amassed a seriously impressive haul of ten assists and one goal in just 22 games, including three in the first half of a game against Fulham.
This year, the 29-year-old has become more of a goalscorer than a provider and has found the back of the net 11 times in 34 games while still providing two assists for good measure.
In all, the former Seagulls star has 24 goal involvements in 56 games for the north Londoners thus far, meaning he currently averages one every 2.33 games, which is pretty good going for a £27m player in the modern game.
For this impressive output, the 29-year-old earns a relatively modest – for football – £90k-per-week, which means he's earning less than one of the club's worst signings in recent memory did.
What Sokratis Papastathopoulos earned at Arsenal
The former Arsenal flop in question is Greek centre-back Sokratis Papastathopoulos, who spent two and a half unsuccessful years at the club.
The 6 foot 1 titan was actually Unai Emery's third signing as manager and joined from German giants Borussia Dortmund for around £18m, which, upon reflection, was a hefty fee for a 30-year-old defender.
Despite making 198 appearances in the five seasons he spent in front of the Yellow Wall, Sokratis managed just 64 in north London before joining Olympiacos on a free.
The right-footed titan made 40 in his first campaign, 29 in his second, and none in his final half-season at the Emirates.
The Kalamata-born player was at the club during their triumphant 2020 FA Cup run, but he played just three minutes across the quarter-final, semi-final and final.
The "woeful" dud, as described by journalist James Berge, was unlucky in that he joined the Gunners in one of their worst periods in recent memory, but he did earn a hefty wage in the process, a cool £100k-per-week – £10k more than Trossard.
Transfer fee
£18m
Wages per week (Total)
£100k (£13.3m)
Total Cost
£31.3m
Appearances
64
Cost per Appearance
£489k
Goals
6
Cost per Goal
£5.2m
Assists
2
Cost per Assist
£15.6m
Goal Involvements
8
Cost per Goal Involvement
£3.9m
Therefore, when combining the 133 weeks he spent at the club with his £18m fee, the former Dortmund star cost Arsenal around £31.3m, or £489k-per-appearance or £3.9m-per-goal-involvement – talk about value for money or a lack thereof.
It's time for Arsenal to cash in on their £43m "monster"
The talented star could fetch a serioulsy high price for the Gunners.
ByJack Salveson HolmesMar 19, 2024
Ultimately, while Sokratis was clearly a talented defender based on his body of work at Dortmund, the fact that he cost the Gunners so much money for two and a half years of poor performances means he has to be viewed as one of the club's worst transfers in recent memory.