Arsenal and Real Madrid have never been afraid to do business with each other.
There have been no fewer than seven players in history to move directly between the two clubs, on top of a handful of other stars whose careers have seen them pass through London and Madrid at one stage or another.
These players have all had different levels of success in their careers, so let’s dive in and see how each player progressed.
Adebayor was initially popular with Arsenal Phil Cole / Getty Images
A one-time Arsenal hero, Emmanuel Adebayor, scored 62 goals in 142 games for the Gunners between 2006 and 2009 before being lured away by Manchester City’s riches.
When his move to City did not end, Adebayor was loaned out to Real in 2011, where his return of eight goals in 22 games flattered him a bit. He only scored in five games, with three of his goals coming on the final day of the La Liga season.
Real were not so sad to see him return to England, but Arsenal fans were lively when the next time Adebayor kicked a ball, it would be in the white of arch-rival Tottenham Hotspur. Difficult.
Diarra was a solid role player in Spain Manuel Queimadelos Alonso / Getty Images
Lassana Diarra’s six-month period with Arsenal during the first half of the 2007/08 season is often forgotten, but it’s not like it was very worth remembering anyway.
The defensive midfielder managed twelve appearances for the Gunners, eight of which start, but he could not hold down a permanent place in the team and quickly pressed for an exit when he realized that regular minutes did not come.
A move to Portsmouth followed, but just 12 months later he somehow switched from Fratton Park to the Santiago Bernabeu, where Diarra actually had four surprisingly impressive years.
Baptista fought in England | CHRIS YOUNG / Getty Images
The Beast.
Real beat Arsenal Baptista’s signature in 2005, but it always looked like a difficult fit. He spent much of his debut season playing out of position, so to help him rediscover his mojo, he was loaned out to Arsenal in the summer of 2006.
Despite poorer performances than good, Baptista made himself something of a cult hero at Arsenal. Six of his ten goals came in the League Cup, but he ultimately did not do enough to convince the Gunners to try to make his move permanent.
He managed another solid season at Real and famously scored the goal to earn them his first win over Barcelona at the Camp Nou in 24 years, but it became clear that Baptista was not part of the long-term plan and he was sold to Roma in 2008.
Reye’s goal won the Real title | Etsuo Hara / Getty Images
As part of the deal that took Baptista to Arsenal, Reyes moved on his own twelve-month loan in the opposite direction.
Spain’s departure ended his three-year association with Arsenal, where he managed 110 games, 23 goals, 25 assists and a Premier League title.
Reyes was solid in Madrid, where his crazy performance was two goals on the final day of the season to win the La Liga title and steal the show on what was David Beckham’s last game for Los Blancos.
He spent most of the rest of his career in Spain, but tragically lost his life at the age of 35 as a result of a car accident in June 2019.
Arsenal turned Anelka into a star Laurence Griffiths / Getty Images
It was at Arsenal that Nicolas Anelka blossomed into a star. 17 when he arrived in early 1997, the Frenchman scored six goals in his first full season and raised it to 17 in 1998/99, after which Real came and shouted.
Sold for a profit of 22 million pounds, Anelka never settled in Madrid. It took him five months to pick up his first goal, and just as he was getting started, Anelka began to clash with the powers at the Bernabeu. It is obvious that this relationship is not going anywhere.
Real managed to make money back when they sold Anelka to PSG just 12 months later, with Los Blancos happy to see the back of a player who managed two goals and five assists in 19 La Liga matches.
Suker was an elite at the international level PATRICK KOVARIK / Getty Images
A real star in Spain, Davor Suker scored 24 goals in his debut season for Real, after which time began to catch up with him.
After two unspectacular seasons, a 31-year-old Suker was brought to Arsenal for as much as £ 3.5 million in 1999, and it was hoped that he would fill the void left by Anelka.
Unfortunately for Suker, Thierry Henry managed to do a better job with it. Henry was so good that Arsenal could not find a place for Suker in his group and dropped him off at West Ham on a free transfer 12 months later.
Ozil’s Arsenal career ended badly | Harriet Lander / Copa / Getty Images
It is difficult to put into words the kind of tension that Mesut Ozil’s move to Arsenal in 2013 generated.
The Gunners had just lost a cool 43 million pounds on a player who was most accepted as the best game maker on the planet. Ozil was La Liga’s best assistant for three straight years, leaving Spain with a record of 80 assists in 159 games. Jeeeez.
Was he worth the hype? Well…
Ozil helped Arsenal to three FA Cup trophies between 2013 and 2017, but the story was reversed when he received a contract worth almost £ 350,000 per week in 2017.
The German’s career took a successor after that and his high salaries became too much of a burden, and in 2021 Arsenal were forced to terminate their contract to let Fenerbahce take him for free.
Ceballos fought for minutes in Madrid | Power Sport Images / Getty Images
Real were ecstatic to catch midfielder Dani Ceballos in 2017. He was one of Spain’s most exciting young talents at the time, but competition limited his playing time and it was decided that he would spend the 2019/20 season on loan with Arsenal.
Ceballos mixed brilliance with a few too many injuries during his debut season, but he still did enough to convince the Gunners to renew his loan for another season.
However, these gleams quickly disappeared, and with them went his place in the starting lineup.
Odegaard joined Arsenal in 2021 | Mike Hewitt / Getty Images
As Ceballos failed to get the expected creativity from him, Arsenal went back to Real and asked them for a loan deal for the Norwegian playmaker Martin Odegaard.
Hungary had starved of playing time in Madrid, despite appearing ready for a place on the team with an excellent loan spell with Real Sociedad 2019/20.
Real’s loss was Arsenal’s win as Odegaard immediately offered the kind of art they had lacked since Ozil’s downfall. He only needed a few weeks to cement his place in Gunners fans around the world.
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