4 footballers who have played for both Manchester United and Arsenal

Manchester United and Arsenal are 2 of the strongest clubs in English football. United are the most successful English club of all time as they have won 20 League titles and 3 European Cups. Arsenal have also won league titles and are one of the most well-supported clubs in Europe. Those 2 clubs enjoyed great rivalry in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger were their managers.

United are based in Manchester and Arsenal in London. Both of those clubs have a wide fanbase all over the world and have been home to a lot of exceptional players over the decades.

There have not been too many players who have played for both of them, however. We would discuss 4 such players in this article:

1. Robin Van Persie:

Van Persie was signed by Arsene Wenger from Feyenoord in 2004. In his 7 years with the club, Van Persie scored 132 goals in 278 matches and provided many more assists. During his prime, Van Persie was one of the best strikers in the world. He was quite versatile too and almost equally comfortable playing as a support striker. He also scored some stunning goals from free-kicks and was an asset to the team he played for because of his all-round abilities. He could not win the Premier League with 'The Gunners' but went on to win 1 FA Cup title. His stint with Arsenal coincided with the rise of Jose Mourinho’s brilliant Chelsea team.

Sir Alex signed Van Persie in 2011 for United and he went on to spend 3 more seasons in English football with them. Van Persie won the EPL with United in 2012-13. He also scored 58 goals in 105 matches for United. Sir Alex himself stepped down as the United manager in 2013 and Van Persie also left the club subsequently in 2014. He spent 10 very successful seasons with those 2 English clubs and remains one of the greatest strikers to have played in the Premier League in the modern era.

2. Danny Welbeck:

Welbeck was another of Ferguson’s successful signings. He joined United in 2008 and played for them for 6 seasons. He appeared in 142 matches and scored 29 goals for them. Welbeck can play as the centre-forward or the left-winger and is known for his strength and opportunism inside the penalty box.

However, he struggled to retain a regular place in the starting line-up for United owing to presence of players like Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs and Robin Van Persie. Still, he managed to win league titles and FA Cups with them.

Arsenal signed Welbeck in 2014 and he still remains one of their players. He has been playing in a more defensive role in the recent past and played as a left-back too. Welbeck is still not a regular starter for the Gunners. However, he has scored 32 goals in 126 matches for them and still has a few years of football left in him at the top level.

3. Mikael Silvestre:

Silvestre was a French left-back, who could also play as a centre-back. He was signed by Ferguson for United in 1999 and played for them till 2008. Silvestre had to fight with the likes of Gabriel Heinze and Patrice Evra for a place in the starting line-up and sometimes warmed their bench. Still his exceptional abilities in the air and good positional sense earned him 361 appearances for United in 9 seasons. He also won 4 league titles, 1 UEFA Champions League title and 1 FA Cup with them.

He left United for Arsenal in 2008 and spent a couple of seasons with the London club. He played both as the left-back and centre-back for Arsenal as well and got some starts for them as they were seeking a replacement for Ashley Cole, who had left for Chelsea. However, the advent of William Gallas and Gael Clichy meant that Silvestre again became unsure of a place in the starting line-up. He managed to play 43 matches for Arsenal and score 3 goals.

4. Henrikh Mkhitaryan:

Mkhitaryan, the Armenian attacking midfielder, remains the only player to play in the Premier League from his country. He was signed by United from Borussia Dortmund at a price of almost 30 Million Pounds in 2016.

However, his stint at United was hardly memorable as he was tried both as an attacking midfielder and a winger, but could not impress with his performances. His return of 13 goals in 63 matches was not at all satisfactory. United struggled to devise a proper formation for themselves and as a result, Mkhitaryan’s position at the club was also jeopardized.

He was sold to Arsenal in 2017 and has managed to get a regular place in their starting line-up since then. Mkhitaryan has played in 33 matches for Arsenal and scored 5 goals. He has been tried as a wing-forward in a 3-4-3 formation as well and seems to have found his niche in English football with Arsenal. Also, his ball-skills seem to be better suited for the slick and fluid playing style of Arsenal.