Former Arsenal Players off to Man City

With Manchester City's recent signing of Gael Clichy from Arsenal for £7 million and with possible moves made for both Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas this Summer it continues the trend of players moving away from North London to the Manchester club.

Since the takeover in September 2008 by the Abu Dhabi United Group, Manchester City have bought 3 players from Arsenal at a combined cost of £48 million. This means a massive return on investment for the incredibly shrewd Arsene Wenger as Kolo Toure only cost £150,000, Emmanuel Adebayor cost £3 million and Gael Clichy was only £250,000 - a total of £3.4 million. If Arsenal relent and sell off Fabregas and Nasri to City for what is rumoured to be £80 million for the pair it again would be a fantastic piece of business (financially), as Fabregas didn't cost the club anything as he came through the academy and Nasri cost £12 million.

Although the profits involved by selling these players is fantastic, from an Arsenal fan's perspective it must beggar belief. Since the takeover, Man City have developed an open cheque book policy in order to gain a Top 4 spot in the Premiership so that they qualify for the UEFA Champions League. They managed to acheieve this goal last season by finishing in third place above Arsenal who ended up fourth and has meant that they have to qualify for the Champions League proper.

Surely the club should adopt a policy where they don't sell players to a rival top club no matter how much money offered or at what profit gained. The "Big 4" in the English Premier League is now a "Big 6" with the inclusion of Tottenham Hotspur and City themselves. With the exception of Arsenal, I would find it very surprising to see any players moving between any of the top 6 clubs nowadays. Tottenham for example have already turned down offers for Luca Modric from Chelsea because they are now considered a big rival and one that they can challenge for a top 4 spot. Yes Spurs could do with the money as they don't have the spending power of Chelsea and City for example but by ensuring that there best player isn't sold to a rival top 6 club means that they have more of a chance of gaining that all important top 4 spot.

Players who have played for Arsenal and Manchester City since the formation of the English Premier League

Gael Clichy
Patrick Viera
Emmanuel Adebayor
Kolo Toure
David Seaman
Stuart Taylor
Paul Dickov
Nicolas Anelka
David Platt (Manchester City Assistant Manager)

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