Whatever happened to Johann Djourou?

Johann Djourou was always a reserve player at Arsenal and in his ten years registered with the club only made 86 first team appearances.  After loans to Hannover (January 2013) and Hamburger SV (1 July 2013) and in April 2014, Hamburg confirmed that they had signed Djourou on a permanent deal He played 74 times …

Whatever happened to James Hillson?

On 7 February 2019, goalkeeper James Hillson from Reading was brought into Arsenal on loan for the rest of the season from Reading as cover in goal for their Under-18 team after losing Karl Hein to injury. This came after Arsenal had to use 15-year-old Hubert Graczyk as a substitute for the FA Youth Cup …

Who was the Arsenal player Clem Voysey?

Clem Voysey was an Arsenal player who was endlessly tracked by the Football Association who were desperate to show that there was something amiss with his signing by Arsenal.  Not because they disliked the player, but because he was signed while Henry Norris was at the club. In fact not only was nothing ever proven, …

Whatever happened to Ashley Cole

  After playing for Roma and LA Galaxy on 21 January 2019, Cole joined Derby County then managed by Frank Lampard.  He was released at the end of the season and on 18 August 2019 announced his retirement. Among his many other achievements, on 27 February 2011, Cole shot a 21-year-old student on work experience …

Whatever happened to Robin van Persie?

On 4 July 2012, Van Persie announced that he would not be signing a new contract with Arsenal claiming that inner voices in his head had told him to sign for Man U.   He transferred on 17 August for £22.5 million plus £1.5 million to follow if Man U won the League or Champs League …

Whatever happened to Kim Kallstrom

Kim Kallstrom was one of many Arsenal signings who discovered just how much the media would make up negative stories about Arsenal players – in this case the story that after Arsenal signed him he injured himself playing beach football.   In fact, Arsenal had a deal in which they would only pay the player when …

Whatever happened to Sanchez Watt?

Sanchez Watt, who is now 28, came up through the Arsenal youth academy and was a notable member of the 2008/9 FA Youth Cup winning season making his debut for Arsenal the following season. After that he had numerous loan spells at clubs such as Leeds, Sheffield Wed, and Colchester United before signing for the …

Whatever happened to Nacho Monreal?

Nacho Monreal returned to Spain on 31 August 2019, joining Real Sociedad on a two-year contract.  He scored on his competitive debut two weeks later, converting an easy tap-in at the hour mark of an eventual 2–0 victory over Atlético Madrid .   He had played 187 times for Arsenal and must rank as one of …

Whatever happened to Chuba Akpom?

Chuba Akpom was an Arsenal player from 2002 to 2018 during which time he made four appearances for the club but played 44 times for England at various youth levels from under 16 to under 21. Starting in 2013 he went on a series of loans to Brentford, Coventry, Nottingham Forest, Hull City, Brighton and …

Whatever happened to Jens Lehmann?

Jens Lehmann was the only member of the Invincibles team to play in every one of the league games.  As such he really ought to have a statue to him outside the ground – but there seems to be no plans for this. Lehmann returned to Arsenal after retiring as a player as assistant coach …

Whatever happened to Gabriel Paulista?

Is a new Arsenal club being born? Actually, probably not Follow the video on Untold Gooner News On 26 January 2015, Gabriel was granted a UK work permit allowing him to join Arsenal.  The fee was around £11m with Joel Campbell moving on loan to Villareal.   Unusually for a player of some stature he spoke …

Whatever happened to Joel Campbell?

Is a new Arsenal club being born? Actually, probably not When Arsenal signed Joel Campbell in 2011 aged 19 from the Costa Rican team Saprissa he looked like a typical Wenger signing of a young player pretty much no one outside of Costa Rica had heard of. That he then went on a series of …

Making an example of Arsenal supporters

The closing of the Woolwich Arsenal ground for two games following crowd incidents, doesn’t sound too horrific, although the initial punishment was for the rest of the season.  It was an unprecedented punishment, and no explanation was given as to why this punishment was dished out, other than a lot of comment about it being …

Whatever happened to Emmanuel Frimpong

On this day in 2013 Emmanuel Frimpong joined Fulham on loan.   However he played only 90 games of football in his professional career.   After a number of loans in England on 8 August 2016, Frimpong signed two-year contract with Arsenal Tula in Russia, and then AFC Eskilstuna in Sweden..   On 17 August 2017, Frimpong signed a …

Whatever happened to Gedion Zelalem?

On this day in 2017 Gedion Zelalem, for a long time predicted to be one of the young players who would come through Arsenal’s ranks and do extremely well with the club, was loaned to VVV Venlo. He had seemed to be making a major comeback from injury when on August 24, 2015, he started …

Whatever happened to Jermaine Pennant?

On this day in 2005, Jermain Pennant crashed his car, and gave the police his name as Ashley Cole. His final club was Billericay Town in 2017.  Then in October 2018, he appeared on The Jeremy Kyle Show having recently written an autobiography, Mental: Bad Behaviour, Ugly Truths and the Beautiful Game, that was also …

Whatever happened to Matthew Upson?

After joining Arsenal from Luton town in 1997 Matthew Upson played 35 times for Arsenal, and made loan spells to Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace and Reading before moving on to the two main clubs of his career, Birmingham City (on this day in 2003) and West Ham.   He later played for Stoke, Brighton, Leicester and …

What ever happened to Sven Mislintat?

Sven Mislintat joined Arsenal in November 2017 with the brief of developing the way Arsenal worked in the transfer market, and during his 14 month tenure brought in the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi. However he fell out with the club after it was decided to sign Dennis Suarez instead of …

Whatever happened to Anders Limpar

Anders Limpar played 399 senior games as a professional, but never exceeded the 96 games he played for Arsenal.   His last appearances came in 1999/2000 for Colorado Rapids before he was forced to retire aged 35, following a series of repeated injuries. After that he opened a bar in Stockholm and later part-owned a company …

Whatever happened to Colin Pates?

Today is the anniversary of the birth of Herbert Chapman in 1878. We have of course got multiple articles about Chapman on this site, and so rather than add one more I thought we might continue the idea of looking at what happened to more recent members of the Arsenal side – in this case …

What happened to Theo Walcott?

On this day in 2013 Theo Walcott signed a new long term contract as his star continued to rise in Arsenal colours.   And although he had some brilliant moments with Arsenal, it was two years ago yesterday that Walcott signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Everton in what the BBC reported as “a deal worth more …

Lassana Diarra: Arsenal to Portsmouth to Real Madrid to Al Jazira to PSG!

If anyone can piece together an accurate story of Lassana Diarra’s life to date it would make fascinating reading for having signed for Arsenal from Chelsea, he played just 13 times before moving on to Portsmouth – hardly a step up! And yet after 32 games there he moved to Real Madrid for whom he …

Where are they now: Sol Campbell on the anniversary of his re-joining AFC

On this day in 2010 Sol Campbell rejoined Arsenal for the final time.  Nine years later he took up the reigns in his current job as manager of Southend United – on 23 October to be exact. At that moment the league table for the club looked like this… Club P W D L F …

The Top Strikers in Arsenal History

The Top Strikers in Arsenal History Established over a century ago in London, Arsenal has had quite the glorious history. One of the most successful clubs in the UK, the Gunners have had their fair share of ups and downs. The club has won 13 league titles and a slew of other trophies although it …