While the defeat away to Porto was a sucker punch, Arsenal have still been in scintillating form in the Premier League over the last month or so.
Mikel Arteta's side have climbed to within a point of Manchester City and five of Liverpool – with a game in hand – and now boast the second-best goal difference in the league.
Position
Played
Team
Goal Difference
Points
1
26
Liverpool
38
57
2
25
Manchester City
32
56
3
25
Arsenal
36
55
4
25
Aston Villa
19
49
The Gunners' resurgence as a force in recent years has been built off the back of some intelligent dealings in the transfer market, both incomings and outgoings.
In fact, there's one star sold just a few seasons ago whose value has now plummeted significantly, making his sale look like a masterstroke.
Alex Iwobi's value at Arsenal
The player in question is Nigerian international and Africa Cup of Nations runner-up Alex Iwobi, who, since leaving north London, has seen his value slowly trickle down to just half of what it was when he left.
The Lagos-born midfielder joined the Gunners as a young boy and made his full first-team debut in an unfortunate 3-0 defeat away to Sheffield Wednesday in the League Cup in October 2015.
Over the next four years, the hard-working Hale End graduate would see his role in the team grow, making 21 appearances in the 2015/16 season, 38 in 2016/17, 39 in 2017/18 and finally, 51 in his last campaign with the club, 2018/19.
When Iwobi's shock £35m move to Everton was announced on deadline day 2019, he left Arsenal with 149 appearances in total, 15 goals, 25 assists, one FA Cup and two Community Shields.
2015/16
2016/17
2017/18
2018/19
21
38
39
51
2
4
3
6
3
6
7
9
0.23
0.26
0.25
0.29
While he was described as "horrendous" by journalist James Benge for a performance against Manchester City in February 2019, Iwobi wasn't a terrible player for Arsenal.
Still, with his poor output for a player who primarily played as a left-winger and the fact that the Football Transfers Expected Value model valued him at €30m – £26m – it looked like good business from the north Londoners.
Alex Iwobi's value this season
The Hale End star made a decent start to life on Merseyside and made 29 appearances for the Toffees out wide in his first season at the club.
However, the goals and assists still weren't coming, and with just 14 in his first three seasons at Goodison Park, he was slowly moved into a midfield role, where he could have more influence over proceedings.
This positional change led to his best season in Blue, which came last year, when he scored two goals and provided nine assists in 41 appearances for the club, helping them avoid relegation to the Championship.
He was even described as "exceptional" by former Chelsea star Frank Leboeuf for his display in the club's 2-2 draw with Liverpool in September 2022.
However, with just a year remaining on his contract, the Merseysiders opted to sell him to Fulham for just £22m last summer.
While he has been decent for the Cottagers – scoring four goals and providing one assist in 22 games – that's a fairly significant drop in value from his £35m move just four and a half years ago.
In fact, according to the CIES Football Observatory, the 63-capped international is now worth just €20m, which is about £17m or 50% less than what Arsenal sold him for in 2019.
Arsenal should cash in on "monster" who's worth more than Trossard
The talented attacker could net the Gunners a significant payday.
ByJack Salveson HolmesFeb 21, 2024
Ultimately, Iwobi is still a decent topflight footballer, but he was never going to be good enough to play in this current Arsenal side, and while Unai Emery got a lot wrong during his time at the club, the sale of Iwobi was something he got spot on.