In the last 15 years, Barcelona have parted with a reported £123m to sign a total of eight players from Arsenal. Thomas Vermaelen is the most recent footballer to have taken what has become a well-trodden path from North London to Catalonia, as did the likes of Thierry Henry, Alex Song, Cesc Fabregas and Aleksander Hleb before him. Yet, it was on this day in 2000 that two players, both of whom had joined the Gunners at the same time three years earlier, started the trend. Marc Overmars and Emmanuel Petit had played key roles in Arsenal's Premier League and FA Cup double triumph of 1998, but just two years later they were bound for the Camp Nou for a combined fee of £32m. The bulk of that...
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