It would be fair to say that the last five years or so have been a roller coaster for Arsenal.
Mikel Arteta has taken a team that was teetering on the edge of mid-table mediocrity and transformed them into genuine contenders for the Premier League and Champions League.
However, while he did take over something of a sinking ship from Unai Emery, it would be unfair to lay the blame for everything that went wrong during his short tenure at his feet.
Moreover, there were a couple of things he did right, such as signing a player whose valuation has exploded in the years since.
Emery's best signings at Arsenal
While the majority of Emery’s signings at Arsenal were middling to poor, he did bring in a few quality players during his year and a half in the hot seat.
Undoubtedly, his best addition to the team was William Saliba, who cost the Gunners around £27m and put pen to paper in the summer of 2019.
Granted, the Frenchman didn’t actually play under the Aston Villa coach, and also seemed to be on the way out at one point, but he is now one of the most important players in Arteta’s squad.
Premier League
106
FA Cup
3
League Cup
6
Champions League
22
Europa League
4
Community Shield
1
The Bondy-born “monster,” as dubbed by content creator Connor Humm, has now made 142 appearances for the club and has just agreed to a new five-year deal that should hopefully keep Real Madrid away for a little while longer.
Another defender signed by Emery who ended up becoming something of a fan favourite at the Emirates was Kieran Tierney.
The Scotsman joined the summer of 2019, and while he’s not on the same level as Saliba and suffered from injury setback after injury setback, he was the epitome of a hardworking professional and something of an old-school defender.
He might not have gone on to become the captain that many thought he might, but he more than made his mark in North London and remains popular among the fans.
Finally, while David Luiz and Bernd Leno were never top-quality players during their time in N5, like Tierney, they could never be accused of not trying, and should probably be held in slightly higher regard than they are.
With all that said, there is another player Emery signed who’s still at the club today and whose valuation has exploded.
The Emery signing whose valuation has exploded
Since it’s not Saliba, it’ll come as no surprise that the Arsenal player in question is none other than Gabriel Martinelli.
Market Movers
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Emery was still in charge of the club when he was signed from Brazilian outfit Ituano in the summer of 2019 for a fee said to be around the £6m mark, and according to Transfermarkt, he is now worth up to €55m, which is around £48m.
In other words, the 24-year-old is now worth £42m more than when he joined the North Londoners, which is a staggering increase of around 700% – not a bad investment.
Now, there will undoubtedly be some who dispute such a valuation, or point to his lacklustre form over the last few years as a reason why he should be worth less.
However, it’s important to remember that while he’s no longer as important as he once was to Arteta, he can still do a job for a top team like the Gunners.
For example, so far this season, he has found the back of the net on three occasions, provided one assist in just nine games, and has become more useful in his new role as an impact substitution.
Moreover, while the “massive talent,” as dubbed by Rio Ferdinand, does have his drawbacks and can be frustrating at times, his underlying numbers are reasonably impressive.
npxG/Shot
0.16
Top 7%
Average Shot Distance
13.30
Top 8%
Touches (Att Pen)
6.40
Top 9%
Shots on Target %
45.8%
Top 10%
Crosses into Penalty Area
0.62
Top 10%
npxG: Non-Penalty xG
0.37
Top 12%
Progressive Passes Rec
10.53
Top 14%
Carries into Penalty Area
2.41
Top 15%
xG: Expected Goals
0.37
Top 19%
GCA (Take-On)
0.09
Top 19%
According to FBref, he ranks in the top 7% of attacking midfielders and wingers in Europe’s top five leagues for non-penalty expected goals per shot, the top 8% for average shot distance, the top 9% for touches in the opposition’s penalty area, the top 10% for carries into the penalty area, and more, all per 90.
Ultimately, Martinelli might never be the superstar attacker so many hoped he would be for Arsenal, but he is a useful squad player and more than justifies his current valuation.