Arsene Wenger enjoyed a remarkable 22-year spell in charge of Arsenal, leading them to their finest ever era and becoming the first team to go an entire Premier League campaign undefeated, doing so in 2003/04.
It wasn’t just the winning that was enjoyable, but the swashbuckling style of football they played while doing so, swatting teams away with ease, with players such as Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp enjoying plenty of freedom.
His final decade in charge of the Gunners was much less successful and his business in the transfer market became progressively worse, signing duds such as Lucas Perez and Marouane Chamakh who didn’t exactly improve the side as they only won three FA Cups during his final 12 years at the helm.
One of his poorest signings was that of French right-back Mathieu Debuchy, who failed to live up to the hype during his failed spell at the North Londoners between 2014 and 2018.
How much did Mathieu Debuchy cost Arsenal?
The defender joined the club in the summer of 2014 for a fee reported to be £12m and considering his performances for Newcastle United, making 46 appearances in 18 months and the French national side, featuring in the recent 2014 World Cup, he looked like a solid signing by Wenger.
Indeed, he even praised Debuchy highly upon his arrival, saying: "He has shown he can perform at the highest level with his club sides and also for France. He is a quality defender who has good Premier League experience and I'm confident he will fit in very well with us."
His spell would turn out to be a mistake, making just 22 appearances in his first 18 months at the club, largely due to a shoulder injury. The right-back would subsequently join French side Bordeaux for the second half of the 2015/16 campaign.
Returning to Arsenal ahead of the 2016/17 season, it looked as though Wenger was going to give him a second chance, yet he failed to take it, playing just once that term and only seven games the season after before sealing a move back to Ligue 1, joining Saint-Étienne in January 2018.
He clearly couldn’t quite cut it in England as after leaving for his homeland, Debuchy scored four goals during his first six months in France, even earning the player of the month award shortly after moving to the club, completing a sparkling turnaround.
His spell at the Emirates was a disaster and across his 156 weeks in London (not counting his loan spell), he rinsed the club for a total of £22.7m, combining his transfer fee plus the £10.7m he earned in wages.
He was even dubbed “terrible” by popular Arsenal fan site the Short Fuse back in 2016, having cost the club £760k every time he played, a staggering waste of money which could have been spent on other areas of the team.
It was a rare flop by Wenger, but when he made mistakes, they were often on a colossal scale.
