Arsenal’s three-year transfer overhaul sheds light on £190m loss on nine stars

It's been a tough three-year period for Arsenal fans.

Indeed, the club's struggles have been well documented ever since Arsene Wenger saw his glittering 22-year reign come to an emotional conclusion at the end of the 2017/18 campaign

The Frenchman won three Premier League titles — including in 2003-04 when his ‘Invincibles’ went unbeaten for an entire season — and seven FA Cups during his time as Gunners’ boss.

He also signed some of the biggest names to grace Highbury and the Emirates but, in a bid to balance their books, Gunners chiefs have had to part ways with their stars over the years.

And, following Wednesday's news that Sokratis Papastathopoulos has left the club my mutual consent, the club's transfer losses have now become evident.

The 32-year-old becomes the seventh big-name player to leave the club on a free in the last three years, with Mesut Ozil and Shkodran Mustafi set to join the defender.

Ozil is on the brink of joining Fenerbahce, having agreed with Arsenal to cancel his contract six months early, while Mustafi is expected to leave when his contract expires in the summer.

Sokratis joins Danny Welbeck, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Jack Wilshere, Santi Cazorla, Aaron Ramsey and Alexis Sanchez in leaving the Emirates club without Arsenal receiving a transfer fee.

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By the summer, it is understood Arsenal would have spent a combined £190million on fees on the nine players – including Ozil and Mustafi – without receiving a penny in return.

In terms of straight-up transfer fees, that figure includes the £14m spent to sign Sokratis in 2018, while Ozil and Mustafi arrived for £42.4m and £35m respectively.

Sanchez – who left to join Manchester United three years ago – was signed for £35m, Cazorla for £15m, Welbeck for £16m and Ramsey for £5m.

Mkhitaryan arrived at the Emirates in the move involving Sanchez, while Wilshere came through the youth ranks at the Gunners.

But the club are believed to have forked out more in regards to several of those deals, taking the expected loss to around £190m, according to Goal.

Sokratis leaves the club having helped Mikel Arteta's men win the FA Cup last August – with the final against Chelsea proving to be the Greece international's last first-team appearance for Arsenal.

Ozil is set to follow Sokratis out of Arsenal, with the playmaker in Turkey ahead of a move to Fenerbahce.

Sead Kolasinac has joined Schalke on loan and William Saliba will spend the rest of the campaign at Nice.

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