Arsenal’s worst Premier League signings of all time

Despite Arsenal's recent Premier League success, there have been periods where they really struggled, especially with recruitment.

Here, FootballWhispers counts down Arsenal’s five worst signings of the Premier League era.

We are not including free transfers or loan signings, so the likes of Willian and Kim Kallstrom do not make it, but there are plenty more flops that the Gunners have brought to North London!

5) Fabio Vieira

It seems harsh to include a player from the current squad in this list, but Fabio Vieira has not exactly been value for money.

Signed for a significant £34m in 2022, he is yet to reach the 50-appearance mark for the club, and has been sent out on loan to Porto, where he originally joined from, and Hamburg.

Should Arsenal sell Vieira this summer, they will almost certainly make a hefty loss on him, as Hamburg seem the only interested club at the moment and reportedly only want to pay as little as £7m to sign him permanently.

Given the plethora of midfield options at the club, the Gunners should be looking to cut their losses.

4) Lucas Perez

Making this list is a striker that some Arsenal fans may have forgotten about in Lucas Perez.

Signed for what was a pretty significant sum of £17m in 2016, he lasted just one season, scoring only seven goals in 21 appearances.

In fairness to the Spaniard, he suffered with injuries which halted his progress at the Emirates, but the Gunners decided to cut their losses early.

Perez simply could not hold down a first-team spot, and so he has to go down as a flop.

3) Francis Jeffers

A Premier League winner comes in third in Francis Jeffers, who signed from Everton for £10m in 2001.

This was seen as a lot of money at the time, especially for a player who was still raw and relatively unproven.

Jeffers unfortunately failed to live up to his hype and he was shipped out on loan before eventually being moved on by Arsenal.

The striker only scored eight goals in 39 appearances, and failed to make any sort of relevant impact.

2) Shkodran Mustafi

In the runner-up spot is Shkodran Mustafi, who Arsenal forked out £35m to sign from Valencia in 2016.

Having won the 2014 World Cup with Germany, there was some initial promise over the signing, and Mustafi actually started relatively well.

However, it soon became apparent that he was very error-prone and so he quickly lost his place in the side.

Arsenal also made a heavy loss on his sale, making him one of the biggest wastes of money they have ever paid for a player.

1) Arsenal’s worst Premier League signing of all time: Nicolas Pepe

Taking top spot is what was once Arsenal's club-record signing in Nicolas Pepe.

After impressing in France, the Gunners decided to pay an eye-raising £72m for his services in 2019, but unfortunately it never really worked out for him.

The emergence of young superstar Bukayo Saka in his position did not help Pepe, and in the end Arsenal decided to terminate his contract, meaning they made a huge £72m loss!

Pepe did have some bright moments, but they were few and far between, so he goes down as Arsenal's worst Premier League signing of all time.

If you enjoyed this list, feel free to check out who are Arsenal’s best Premier League signings of all time.