What happened to 5 Chelsea players signed by Mikel Arteta at Arsenal before Noni Madueke
Mikel Arteta is no stranger to signing Chelsea players and Arsenal are set to finalise a deal for Noni Madueke after agreeing a deal with the Blues for a transfer
Noni Madueke looks set to become Arsenal’s latest signing in a busy start to July in the transfer market. In the space of a week the England international could join the likes of Martin Zubimendi and Christian Norgaard in arriving at the Emirates.
The winger has been provided permission by Chelsea to depart the United States on the eve of the Club World Cup final against Paris Saint-Germain to finalise a £52million move to the Gunners. Madueke is set to sign a five-year deal as he seals a move to the Emirates.
It is not the first time Mikel Arteta has added to his squad from Arsenal’s London rivals. And it’s not even the first time this summer after the Gunners prised Kepa Arrizabalaga away from Stamford Bridge in a £5m deal little over a week ago.
And it appears whether it is Edu or Andrea Berta in charge of transfers, the club are more than happy to go back to the Chelsea well as they attempt to transform from also-rans to Premier League winners. But how successful has the tactic been so far?
Mirror Football takes a look at what happened to the players signed before Madueke and Kepa, with the latter not having had time to make his mark.
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Willian
The Brazilian winger got off to a quick start after joining Arsenal to bag two assists on his debut against Fulham. By the end of the season Willian had just one goal to his name for the club however.
After little over a year at the club, Willian and Arsenal came to an agreement to end his time in north London via mutal consent. The Premier League veteran later described the period as ‘the worst time that he had lived as a professional’.
Jorginho
Jorginho was a ‘bit surprised’ over his move to Arsenal in January 2023. The £12m deal caught much of the footballing world off guard as Arsenal moved on from trying to sign Moises Caicedo.
“I know he tried a few times to get me before and it didn’t happen due to other reasons, not because of my wishes,” Jorginho said upon signing for the club.
Arteta hoped the signing would add to the squad’s depth and the Italian proved useful on his way to 79 appearances across two-and-a-half seasons. Jorginho earned an extension to his initial deal but saw his contract end in 2025 as he opted for a move to Brazil.
Kai Havertz
The German’s move across London was another that raised eyebrows as Arsenal stumped up £65m for Chelsea’s Champions League final goalscorer. Arteta had intentions to utilise Havertz as a midfielder before being required to push the player further forward.
And whereas he’d sometimes struggled leading the Blues’ frontline, the ex-Bayer Leverkusen ace proved a useful stand-in for Arteta. Havertz has scored 29 goals and provided 13 assists in 87 appearances for Arsenal thus far and a stint at the end of 2023/24 saw four Premier League goals and three assists across five games.
A significant injury in a mid-season training camp stopped him in his tracks at the beginning of 2025 as he was forced to go under the knife. But the Germany international has been noted by Arteta to have undergone a physical transformation in his time away from the pitch as he returned for the final two games of the season.
Raheem Sterling
The winger had a forgetable spell at Arsenal, after joining the club on a season-long loan. Arteta would have hoped he could rekindle the form he saw coaching at Manchester City as the Gunners attempted to take advantage of an opportunity late in the transfer window.
Sterling was unable to break into Arteta’s first team plans for the most part and scored just once in his season with the club. The 30-year-old made 13 starts but often didn’t make it off the bench.
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