Mikel Arteta has made 30 signings in his five-and-a-half year stint at Arsenal, many of which have been largely successful.
The Spaniard has overseen the Gunners’ rapid resurgence from mid-table mediocrity to perennial title challengers in the space of half a decade, with fantastic recruitment enabling this.
Staple figures of the team like Declan Rice, Gabriel Magalhaes and Martin Odegaard were all acquired by Arteta, with these aforementioned three just a handful of the impressive additions the head coach has made to his squad.
However, like any footballing project, the Arteta revolution has included some transfer mares along the way.
With that said, taking into consideration a number of factors, such as price tag, wages, intended squad role and general performance levels, here are Arteta’s top five worst signings at Arsenal, from least bad to absolute worst.
5 – Pablo Mari (£11.7 million)
Arsenal signed centre-back Pablo Mari in an initial loan deal in January 2020, with the Gunners paying Flamengo €6 million (£5 million) to take the Spaniard for six months.
Hardly featuring at the back end of the 2019/20 season, the North Londoners signed Mari permanently in the summer of 2020, paying the Brazilian club a further €8 million (£6.7 million) for his services.
The first signing of the Arteta era, Mari was brought in to provide cover and competition for Gabriel, and he did so relatively well for a short period of time.
However, it eventually became clear that the Copa Libertadores winner didn’t have the pace or mobility to play at the highest level in the Premier League, and he was exposed as a result.
Sold to Monza in 2023 after a successful loan spell at the Italian club, Mari made just 22 appearances for Arsenal.
On paper, he cost Arsenal little, hardly played and the Gunners recouped some money for him, although it was the inability to identify his physical limitations in the scouting that made him such a disappointing signing.
Mari is now thriving in Serie A for Fiorentina, where his agility issues aren’t as glaring.
4 – Raheem Sterling (Loan)
Raheem Sterling endured a disastrous loan spell at Arsenal during the 2024/25 season.
Signed at the eleventh hour on deadline day last summer, Sterling was brought in to provide additional depth to the Gunners forward line.
However, it quickly became clear that the Premier League veteran was no longer at the level required to play any serious minutes for a team trying to win major honours, and Arteta swiftly neglected him, leaving the England international to rot on the bench for most of the season.
Sterling finished the campaign having started just seven league games, scoring once in all competitions for Arsenal.
The only thing that prevents him from being higher up on this list is that he was ultimately not expected to play a particularly prominent role, was only a loan addition and was on modest wages.
3 – Runar Alex Runarsson (£1.8 million)
Arsenal signed Alex Runarsson in the summer of 2020 to deputise for Bernd Leno.
The Icelandic goalkeeper had lost his spot as Dijon’s number one the year prior, and had one of the worst statistical profiles of any keeper in French football.
However, after claiming to be using data in their recruitment, Arsenal opted to sign Runarsson anyway, and he produced some alarming performances in his short spell in N5.
Making two howlers in a League Cup clash against Manchester City, Runarsson was simply nowhere near the level required to play for Arsenal, and this is reflected in the fact that he was immediately replaced by Matt Ryan in January 2021 and has since been a number two at Cardiff City and Copenhagen.
While he only made six appearances for the Gunners, he’s arguably one of the worst players to play for the North London club, and was an utterly bizarre piece of recruitment.
2 – Cedric Soares (Free)
Signed at the same time as Mari, and a similar calibre of player to the centre-back, Cedric Soares was a much worse signing for a few reasons.
Even if the Gunners didn’t have to pay a transfer fee for the Euro 2016 winner, they still acquired an average 28-year-old Premier League full-back on substantial wages on a four-year deal, largely because of ties to his agent.
This is simply not a move a smart club makes, and it came back to bite them.
While Mari hardly played for Arsenal, Cedric made over 60 appearances for the club, and some of his dour displays at the back end of the 2021/22 season cost Arteta’s team a place in the top four.
He played just nine games for the North Londoners in his last two seasons at the Emirates, as the club desperately tried to move him on, but were inevitably unable to find a suitor who were willing to pay his wages.
It then took Cedric over six months to find a club that would take him after leaving Arsenal.
1 – Willian (Free)
Like Cedric, Willian was a signing driven by the relationship between Arsenal’s Head of Football Relations at the time, Raul Sanllehi, and superagent Kia Joorabchian.
This type of recruitment always leaves a sour taste in the mouths of fans.
Also like the Portuguese right-back, Willian was signed for nothing, but was given too lengthy a contract and was paid too much.
The underlying data suggested the former Chelsea man was already declining in his final campaign at Stamford Bridge, yet Arsenal opted to offer the then 32-year-old a three-year deal on a purported £220,000 a week.
The Gunners had also already splashed £72 million on a winger, Nicolas Pepe, the summer before, and had promising youngsters Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Reiss Nelson coming through.
Every single indicator pointed to signing Willian being a mistake, and unsurprisingly, he was disastrous on the pitch for Arsenal.
Scoring once in 37 appearances for the Gunners, he left after just one year, going down as one of the worst signings in the club’s modern history.
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