The rumours swirling around that Riyadh Mahrez is set to join Arsenal for £100m are in full flow. If the Algerian decides to make the move south towards north London, he will become another in a long list of players to win a Premier League title elsewhere before joining or after leaving Arsenal. The Gunners themselves haven’t won a title since their famous Invincibles season back in 2003-2004. Here is a list of current players linked or are on the team:
Riyadh Mahrez – The Algerian is coming off a season where he scored 17 goals and assisted 11 en route in helping Leicester City win an improbable Premier League title. He was selected in the PFA Team of the Year and won the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award. So why hasn’t Arsenal snapped him up already? As former defender Lauren suggests, Mahrez won’t exactly be a unique talent at Arsenal. Their blueprint for bringing in mercurial and creative midfielders hasn’t helped them reach the summit of the Premier League so hoping that Mahrez is the final piece to the puzzle isn’t a worthwhile strategy.
Petr Cech – The Czech has won the Premier League four times with Arsenal’s London rival Chelsea, most recently in the 2014-2015 season despite being a backup to Thibaut Courtois. Cech was upset that he wasn’t a first-string keeper and felt that he had a lot more to give so he joined Arsenal for a £10 million fee. He holds the record for most clean sheets in the Premier League, is joint-top for most Premier League Golden Gloves won and is the only keeper to win that award with two different teams. If Arsenal is to challenge for the title in the upcoming season, Cech must be at his best.
Danny Welbeck – Welbeck was a long-time youth in the Manchester United Academy and won a Premier League title with the Old-Trafford squad in the 2012-2013 season. After complaining about a lack of playing time at striker, Louis Van Gaal offloaded him to Premier League rivals Arsenal for a fee of £16 million. In his first season with Arsenal, he memorably scored the winning goal to knock his former team out of the quarter-finals of the FA Cup at Old Trafford. The 2015-2016 season was one filled with injuries as he missed the start of the season with a knee injury, only returning in February. In May, he suffered another knee injury that will likely keep him out for a further nine months, depleting Arsenal’s already small striker corps.
Some notable players that have won the Premier League title since leaving Arsenal include Cesc Fabregas, who won titles in Spain with Barcelona before coming back to England and winning with Chelsea. Robin Van Persie is another player who won Manchester United the title by himself. Samir Nasri has won two titles at Manchester City, while William Gallas, who won two titles with Chelsea and then transferred to Arsenal for Ashley Cole. With 13 years having passed since their last title, Arsenal is hoping that they will be able to stop that streak this season.
