Leandro Trossard, Martin Odegaard and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang playing for Arsenal. TEAMtalk montage.
Arsenal are looking to bolster their squad in the January window – but they’ve often had mixed fortunes in the transfer market at this time of year.
The Gunners have a long-standing interest in Ivan Toney and TEAMtalk revealed that they have made an approach to sign Everton midfielder Amadou Onana in the current transfer window.
Ahead of any potential arrivals, we’ve taken a look at their last 10 deals in the January transfer window and ranked them out of 10.
Note: we’ve also included loan deals but have only ranked the players by how they performed during the loan spell.
Jorginho – 6/10
Having spent four-and-half years at Chelsea, Jorginho moved across London and completed a surprise deadline day move to Arsenal in January 2023.
The 32-year-old midfielder enjoyed an impressive debut half-season at the Emirates and Arteta has cited the importance of his experience and leadership skills.
But he proved to be a stop-gap signing before the Gunners bought Declan Rice from West Ham United in the summer of 2023.
The Italy international has since become a bit-part player under Arteta and is out of contract at the end of the 2023/24 season.
Jakub Kiwior – 5/10
Kiwior was a relatively unknown centre-back when he moved to north London from Serie A side Spezia in a £21million deal in January 2023.
He has struggled to nail down a regular starting berth at Arsenal, with Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba firmly established as first-choice defenders.
While the 23-year-old is yet to justify his price tag, he’s far from the finished product and could still have a bright future at the Emirates.
“He is a player that I really like, that’s why I signed him,” Arteta said last season. “He has the potential, at his age, to be great.”
Leandro Trossard – 7/10
After missing out on Mykahilo Mudryk in January 2023, Arsenal switched their attention to Trossard and agreed to pay Brighton an initial £21million and another £5million in potential add-ons.
He made an immediate impact at the Emirates, registering 10 Premier League assists in the second half of the 2022/23 season.
The Belgium international also scored an injury-time equaliser against Manchester City as Arsenal won the 2023 Community Shield.
While he’s yet to usurp Gabriel Martinelli in the starting Xl, the versatile forward can play in a variety of positions and continues to prove his worth off the bench.
Auston Trusty – 3/10
Trusty joined Arsenal from Colorado Rapids in a £2million deal in January 2022, but he remained with the MLS side until the end of that season.
The USA international then spent the following campaign on loan at Birmingham City, where he won their Player of the Year award.
Despite impressing in the Championship, he failed to make a single competitive appearance for Arsenal.
The Gunners did at least make a small profit on the centre-back, selling him to Sheffield United for £5million in the summer of 2023.
Mathew Ryan – 3/10
One of five loan signings on this list, Ryan spent the second half of the 2020/21 campaign at the Emirates and acted as back-up to first-choice goalkeeper Bernd Leno.
The Australia international – who is a boyhood Arsenal fan – made just three appearances for the Gunners, conceding two goals and keeping one clean sheet.
Arsenal ultimately decided not to sign the goalkeeper at the end of his loan spell, and he joined Real Sociedad a few weeks later.
Martin Odegaard – 7/10
After failing to break into the Real Madrid team under Zinedine Zidane, Odegaard left in search of regular first-team football and joined Arsenal on a six-month loan deal in January 2021.
The midfielder made 20 appearances during his loan spell and registered four direct goal contributions, including an equaliser in a north London derby win over Tottenham.
“He made us better,” Arteta said. “We needed more options, alternatives, creativity and players who can be models in this football club.”
The Norway international impressed enough to earn a permanent move and has gone from strength to strength in the last two-and-a-half years, establishing himself as one of the best players in the Premier League.
Cedric Soares – 3/10
Cedric joined Arsenal from Southampton on an initial loan deal in January 2020, but he endured an injury-hit start to his career in north London.
The Portugal international finally made his debut five months – or 152 days, to be exact – after his arrival and scored in a 4-0 win against Norwich City.
He went on to make another four appearances at the end of the 2019/20 season and reportedly impressed Arteta with his professionalism.
The 32-year-old signed a four-year deal at Arsenal following the expiration of his Southampton contract and has since become a fringe player at the Emirates.
Pablo Mari – 2/10
Arteta’s first signing as Arsenal manager, Mari left Brazilian side Flamengo and joined the Gunners on loan in January 2020.
The centre-back – who was previously on the books at Manchester City – made three appearances for Arsenal in 2019/20 before his season was ended prematurely by an ankle injury.
Arsenal still triggered the option to buy him permanently for around £8million, but he struggled to make an impact and left the club in 2023 after loan spells at Udinese and Monza.
Denis Suarez – 1/10
After falling down the pecking order at Barcelona, Suarez completed a loan move to Arsenal in January 2019 and the midfielder reunited with Unai Emery, who he worked with at Sevilla.
But his six-month spell at the Emirates amounted to zero starts and six fairly forgettable substitute appearances, totalling just 95 minutes.
Unsurprising, the Gunners didn’t trigger the £20million option to make the deal permanent in the summer of 2019.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 10/10
The last signing made by Arsene Wenger, Aubameyang joined Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund in a £56million deal in January 2018.
He was ridiculously prolific during his first few seasons in north London and won the Premier League Golden Boot in 2018/19.
The Gabon international also helped the Gunners win the first trophy of the post-Wenger era, scoring both goals in the 2020 FA Cup semi-final and final as they overcame Manchester City and Chelsea.
Admittedly, his time at the club came to an acrimonious end in January 2022, and he spent the 2022/23 season at London rivals Chelsea.
But 92 goals in 163 appearances in all competitions is a brilliant return, and he’s one of the best Arsenal players of the Emirates era.
