GUNNERS: Arsene Wenger signing trend

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Arsene Wenger may have worked with stars like Robin van Persie, Cesc Fabregas, Robert Pires, Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry before they reached their peak ability, but Wenger has for many years been criticiced for not signing stars who either eluded the Gunners or were deemed unready.

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From famously offering Zlatan Ibrahimovic a trial to passing on Dimitri Payet, Wenger has come agonisingly close to signing numerous top quality players during his reign.

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The club had the purchasing power during the summers of 2013 and 2014, when Wenger signed Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez for £42.5 million and £35 million respectively.

The summer of 2015 was not promising as the only big name Arsenal was the 33-year-old goalkeeper Petr Cech. The fans were furious by the end of deadline day as Wenger did not sign a single outfield player. This made Arsenal the only club in Europe’s top five leagues not to do so in 2015.

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The summer of 2016 may also go down as another disappointment despite the arrivals of Granit Xhaka (£30m) and Rob Holding (£2m). Wenger has not shown any signs of signing experienced players before the August 31 deadline.