11 September 2023 , 06:00
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By now, Mikel Arteta's ruthlessness should come as no shock to anyone, the Arsenal boss has shown a number of times he will not suffer fools gladly.
Whether it be the exile and eventual parting of ways with former captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, or the cold way he froze out Mesut Ozil - a man he shared the dressing room with back in his playing days, Arteta is not one to be crossed. Fall foul of the Spaniard at your peril, any player deemed surplus to requirements will have a hard time sitting around just collecting their payslip.
One theme of Arteta's tenure when it comes to transfer dealings has been the tendency to terminate the contracts of players no longer of any use to the club or his plans moving forward. With the help of sporting director and another former player in Edu Gaspar, Arsenal have been able to shift bodies through the exit door by sheer force.
As many as nine unfortunate high-profile ex-Gunners have seen their deals with the club terminated, with their consent of course and here Mirror Football takes a look at each one in a bid to analyse their eventual demise.
Mesut Ozil - £42.5m
A name that will forever divide opinion among the Emirates faithful, Ozil actually played his part in the opening exchanges of Arteta's reign but was soon on the chopping block. The ex-Germany international was accused of failing to put in the level of effort his boss demanded.
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Mesut Ozil and Mikel Arteta seemed to suffer a breakdown in their relationship (Getty Images)In truth, the once mercurial playmaker and his 'will he won't he leave' saga dragged on for far too long and arguably played its part in Unai Emery's sacking before Arteta occupied the hot-seat. His omission from Arsenal's 25-man Premier League squad signalled the end of his seven-and-a-half year stay in north London.
Ozil left Arsenal and joined boyhood club Fenerbahce, but soon encountered similar problems and didn't last particularly long. After another ill-fated stint in Turkey, this time with Istanbul Basaksehir, he hung up his boots altogether in March of this year.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan - Free
Henrikh Mkhitaryan was a disastrous signing for Arsenal (Getty Images)One half of one of the worst swap deals in Premier League history when he joined the Gunners while Alexis Sanchez went to Manchester United, Mkhitaryan had actually fallen out of favour at Arsenal before Arteta had even arrived.
The Armenian lasted just 18 months at the Emirates, before joining Serie A side Roma on loan. It's not as if he fared much better there either, though he does remain in the Italian top-flight to this day, albeit no longer donning the maroon of I Giallorossi.
Instead, Mkhitaryan lines up for last season's Champions League finalists Inter Milan. His time at Arsenal is one neither the player or the fans are likely to look back on fondly.
Sokratis - £17m
Sokratis left Arsenal and joined Olympiakos (Getty Images)One of the more understated names on the list, Greece international Sokratis was a reliable enough servant during his time at Arsenal.
However, it soon became clear that the former Borussia Dortmund man could not thrive in an Arteta system. The Gunners boss tried to help hide some of Sokratis' technical issues by deploying him in a back three, but by January 2021 he was gone.
Sokratis does have an FA Cup winner's medal to show for his efforts and left with the good will of the Arsenal faithful. He returned to his home country to ply his trade for Olympiakos, whom he left this year and is currently searching for a new side.
Shkodran Mustafi - £35m
Shkodran Mustafi was deemed error-prone during his Arsenal stay (PA)Mustafi, much to the frustration of a number of Gunners supporters, managed to last five years in north London before his departure. Those who watched the Germany international week in week out will be able to attest he wasn't as poor as many claimed.
However, when he did make a mistake, Mustafi's errors had a habit of being particularly calamitous. It is for that reason why he didn't last much longer at his next club following the termination of his Gunners contract.
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Mustafi joined Bundesliga side Schalke, but lasted just one season that saw the proud German outfit get relegated, prompting a furious response from fans. Since leaving Arsenal, he has played for three different clubs in Schalke, Spanish side Levante and most recently Aris, in Greece.
Sead Kolasinac - Free
Sead Kolasinac is now an Atalanta playerKolasinac's most notable contribution during his Arsenal days was heroically defending Ozil from armed thieves in the middle of the street. While very noble, he struggled to make a lasting impact at Arsenal on the field.
In an era of technically gifted full-backs that looked like they could do a job in midfield, Kolasinac's more traditional left-back traits meant he hardly helped transform the way Arsenal play in the way Oleksandr Zinchenko does nowadays.
In the same window as Mustafi, Kolasinac also joined Schalke on loan having left the club for Arsenal four years prior. Much like the aforementioned German, he has also played for three clubs since his Emirates exit having signed for both Marseille and then Atalanta on free after his Bundesliga loan.
Willian - Free
Willian impressed for Fulham last season (Getty Images)Some eyebrows were raised when Willian joined Arsenal on a free from London rivals Chelsea given his age and the Gunners history of underperforming ex-Blues.
It turned out the question marks hanging over his signing were justified, with Willian putting in one of the most disastrous debut campaigns in Arsenal's history. The Brazilian managed one goal all season, which came against the already relegated West Brom.
It was to be his first and last season at the club, agreeing to terminate his deal and sacrifice plenty of wages purely so he could end his Arsenal nightmare. Willian returned to boyhood club Corinthians, but left a year later after threats made by fans.
He now can be found back in West London, only this time in a Fulham shirt.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - £62m
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang now lines up for MarseillePerhaps behind only Ozil, there's a case to be made that Aubameyang is the best player to feature on this list. It is for that reason why the termination of his contract had nothing to do with his ability.
The Gabon international's exit was purely due to the complete breakdown in his relationship with Arteta, who had seen his star striker fall foul of his 'non-negotiables' one too many times which inspired a stripping of the captaincy followed by his exit altogether.
Even the way Aubameyang left surely angered Arteta, with the forward flying to Barcelona without permission on deadline day of the winter window last year to try and force through a move. He got his wish, Arsenal got £350,000 per-week off the wage bill.
Aubameyang soon returned to the capital to spend one dire season with Chelsea, but has since been sold to Ligue 1 side Marseille.
Hector Bellerin - Free
Hector Bellerin is now at boyhood club Real Betis (Getty Images)If Ozil and Aubameyang were the most talented to feature, Bellerin is by far and away the most loved. Having arrived from Barcelona to join the Arsenal academy as a teenager, the Spain international played his way into the hearts of the Gunners fanbase.
He also managed to play his way into the 2015/16 PFA Team of the Season, but was never the same player after an anterior cruciate ligament injury three years later.
He was slowly phased out of the first-team fold and initially joined Real Betis on a season-long loan. Since then, he has played for Barcelona, Sporting and then returned to Betis on a permanent deal.
Nicolas Pepe - £72m
Nicolas Pepe has left to join Trabzonspor (Getty Images)The most expensive flop of all, Pepe was a club record at the time of his signing from Lille in the summer of 2019.
Just 27 goals in 111 appearances as well as one loan spell later and Pepe has since seen his mega-money contract ripped up. So much was expected of the Ivorian when Arsenal pipped the likes of Liverpool and Real Madrid to his signature, but he never seemed cut out for the rigours of the Premier League.
An underwhelming loan spell at Nice marred his 2022/23 campaign and spelled the end of his time as a player in one of Europe's top five major leagues.
Pepe's relationship with Arteta soured towards the end, with the winger accusing the Arsenal boss of giving him mixed messages. It is no longer a Gunners problem, given the 28-year-old has joined Turkish outfit Trabzonspor.