What happened to the three Arsenal first-team stars Wright ordered Arteta sell
Ian Wright is usually one of the more upbeat, optimistic voices when it comes to Arsenal related matters but even he could not hide his disappointment back in late 2020.
While the Gunners were enduring their worst run of form for more than 50 years, Wright lost his patience following a particularly dismal 1-0 home defeat by Burnley. The Clarets got the better of Arsenal after Granit Xhaka was sent off and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang headed into his own net.
Following the full-time whistle, Wright let rip at three Arsenal players in particular. "The manager has stuck with him [Xhaka] for a while," the Gunners icon told Premier League Productions. " He has shown a lot of faith in him. I think he has done the same with Willian. He has done the same with [Alexandre] Lacazette.
“There are players now that should be getting a blast at it now." Wright's blast didn't end there, with the Arsenal legend going on to add how he feels the more senior figures in the dressing room should be coming to the fore when the going gets tough.
"It’s a time when you need experienced players the most. I feel like at this particular moment, he has had a lot of faith in them and they have kind of let him down up to this point.
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"I think Arsenal are at a real crisis point in terms of confidence. It’s going to be even lower now and it’s going to take something to build them up."
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Willian disappointed during his spell with Arsenal (Getty Images)“You need to do something different because if it carries on like this and he continues to have faith in these players, and they are not delivering, then I don’t know what’s going to happen next."
Three years on and Arsenal have enjoyed a remarkable turnaround with optimism now the highest it has been at the Emirates for quite some time. But whatever happened to those three senior players that Wright took aim at a few years ago?
Well, all three have now since departed. Willian was the first to go, with the Brazilian lasting just one season at Arsenal before agreeing to terminate his contract and return to his home country. That move didn't work out either and he's now back in the capital plying his trade for Fulham.
A year on from his Arsenal exit, he opened up on his north London nightmare.
"I wasn’t happy, I wasn’t happy. That’s why I didn’t perform. I don’t want to go into the details," Willian told Rio Ferdinand ’s YouTube channel Five. "When I arrived there I was happy, from the beginning I was motivated, I wanted to do well - new club, new mates, new project.
"But after three months, I said to my agent: ‘Please, I want to go’."
Alexandre Lacazette was the next to leave, though he didn't actually depart until the summer of 2022 following the expiration of his contract. The Frenchman actually enjoyed a decent relationship with Wright and it remains unclear how he felt about being in the firing line of the former Arsenal ace.
Alexandre Lacazette found his scoring touch since leaving Arsenal for Lyon in 2022Lacazette actually enjoyed his best goalscoring season for some time last term back at boyhood club Lyon, with the 32-year-old netting 27 goals in 35 Ligue 1 appearances. Gabriel Jesus' arrival at the Emirates mean the Arsenal faithful haven't exactly missed their former French forward.
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That leaves just Xhaka, the man red-carded on the night of Wright's outburst. The Switzerland national team captain enjoyed one of the most sensational redemption arcs and left Arsenal just last week as a fan-favourite.
After falling out with supporters following an infamous on-pitch meltdown in 2019, Xhaka turned the tide on his Arsenal career after two fantastic seasons in 2021/22 and 2022/23 respectively.
He'll be best remembered for his goals against the likes of Tottenham, Manchester United and Chelsea and earned a warm send-off once his switch to Bayer Leverkusen was confirmed.
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