The 10 greatest French players who played for Arsenal

To date, 29 Frenchmen have made a senior first-team men's appearance for Arsenal. This is the most of any nationality, aside from English and Scottish, ten more than the next-highest European nationality, which is Spanish.

Some of Arsenal's greatest-ever players have come from France, as has a pretty influential manager, so we are ranking the top 10.

10) Gaël Clichy

One of only four men to have won the Premier League with Arsenal and another club, Ashley Cole, Nicolas Anelka and Kolo Touré the others, Gaël Clichy is often forgotten as an Gunners stalwart. Despite having only ever played for Cannes in Championnat National, France's third-tier, he was signed by Arsène Wenger as a 16 year old back in 2003.

Clichy would go on to make 264 appearances for the Gunners, including 12 Premier League outings during the Invincibles title winning campaign of 2003/04. Very much one of the division's best left-backs throughout his time in North London, the Frenchman departed in the summer of 2011, signed by Manchester City for £7 million.

At the time, the Sky Blues were splashing the cash and hoovering up talent, also recruiting Emmanuel Adebayor and Touré from the Emirates. This has, somewhat, tarnished Clichy's Arsenal legacy, but his quality should not be forgotten.

9) Olivier Giroud

Another Frenchman who accumulated 250+ appearances for Arsenal, only to depart for a rival, is Olivier Giroud. In the summer of 2012, with Robin van Persie Manchester United-bound, Wenger turned to France to find his replacement. That year, against all odds, Montpellier had won Ligue 1 for the first time ever, with Giroud spearheading la Paillade's triumph, scoring 21 goals.

Once at Arsenal, the centre-forward scored a respectable 105 goals in 253 appearances, bagging 16 in the Premier League in 2013/14 and two seasons later. In the club's entire history, only 15 men have scored more goals than Giroud, albeit he is perhaps more remembered for the chances he did not take.

In January 2018, Giroud departed for Chelsea for a reported fee of £18 million, part of a three-way transfer agreement that allowed Michy Batshuayi to move to Borussia Dortmund, freeing up Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to sign for Arsenal. Many Gooners were already frustrated by Giroud, a feeling that didn't exactly soften when he opened the scoring against Arsenal during the 2019 Europa League Final, a 4-1 demolition at the Bakı Olimpiya Stadionu.

8) Bacary Sagna

One of the most consistent performers of the Emirates-era, Bacary Sagna was good enough to contribute to any Arsenal team from any era. The right-back arrived from Auxerre in the summer of 2007, one year after the club's move into a new stadium, and he remains, arguably, the best player in his position the club have had during this period. Sagna made 284 appearances for Arsenal, only three Frenchmen have more, finally getting his hands on silverware with the club during the very last of these matches, hoisting the FA Cup aloft in 2014.

The subsequent parade around Islington featured plenty of chants of "we want you to stay", underlining the high regard he was held in by supporters. Sagna though did not grant their wish, instead joining Manchester City on a Bosman, landing a substantially more lucrative contract. Nevertheless, for seven seasons, Arsenal had one of the very best in the world at right-back.

7) Laurent Koscielny

By virtue of the fact that he made 69 more appearances, Laurent Koscielny just lands one place above his former teammate Sagna. The centre-back arrived from Lorient for £8.5 million in 2010, calling London home for the next nine season. His partnership alongside Per Mertesacker remains one of the best the club have seen in modern times, picking up three FA Cup winners medals, scoring the all-important equaliser against Hull in 2014.

Koscielny's time at Arsenal was not without low moments, though. During his first season, it was his mix-up with Wojciech Szczęsny that presented Obafemi Martins with the last-gasp winner as Birmingham City snatched victory in the 2011 Carling Cup Final. Fast forward to 2018, Koscielny had been playing with pain-killing injections for some time, which ultimately cost him, rupturing his ACL during the Europa League semi-final defeat against Atlético Madrid, thereby missing France's World Cup triumph in Russia.

His departure then shrouded his legacy. Club captain at this point, Koscielny refused to travel to the US in the summer of 2019 in an attempt to force through a move back to France that he believed the club had promised him. The centre-back ultimately joined Bordeaux, and his contribution to Arsenal is now often forgotten, but he was good enough to play in any team this club has ever had throughout its illustrious history.

6) Sylvain Wiltord

Sylvain Wiltord was not at Arsenal for the longest time of players on this list, but he certainly made his mark. The striker scored a 94th minute equaliser during the final of Euro 2000 as France beat Italy at De Kuip, before joining Arseal for a then club-record £13 million a few weeks later. Often used as a super sub, he scored 49 goals in 174 appearances across four seasons in North London, picking up two Premier League titles and two FA Cups.

One of these goals remains among the most famous in Arsenal history. In 2002, having just beaten Chelsea in the FA Cup Final, Wenger heavily rotated for their penultimate league fixture of the season away at Manchester United. Despite making wholesale changes, he beat Sir Alex Ferguson's side 1-0, with Wiltord the late match-winner, a goal that rubber stamped the title at the home of their fierce rivals. Martin Tyler's simple commentary of "WILLLTOOOORD" will forever be an historic moment.

5) William Saliba

Firstly, who knows, by the end of this season, William Saliba may move a place or two up these rankings. Signed from Saint-Étienne for £27 million, a huge fee for a teenager, Saliba put pen to paper in July 2019, but would have to wait three years before his debut. He was loaned back to les Verts and then to Nice and Marseille, with many fearing he would never be given an opportunity.

Well, on his Premier League debut at Selhurst, Saliba was man of the match, putting in one outstanding performance after another from then until the present day. Last September, the centre-back signed a new contract, keeping him in North London until 2030, news that was celebrated more than some on-pitch victories by supporters. At 24 years old, he is already one of the best defenders in the club's history, now simply requiring the winners' medals to prove it.

4) Emmanuel Petit

Despite only make 118 appearances for Arsenal, 16 Frenchmen have more, Emmanuel Petit fully merits his place in the top four of this ranking. He joined the club in the summer of '97 from Monaco, instantaneously becoming a key figure in Wenger's double team, scoring against Wimbledon and Derby towards the end of that title winning campaign. That summer too, he scored as France beat Brazil to become champions of the World, the only Arsenal player to ever net in a World Cup Final.

Petit initially landed in London for talks with Tottenham chairman Alan Sugar. After leaving White Hart Lane having said he'll think about the offer, Spurs paid for his taxi, thinking it was aiport-bound, instead going straight to Highbury to join Arsenal and, as they say, the rest is history.

3) Robert Pirès

Now we come to the seriously big-hitters. For many, Robert Pirès is their favourite Arsenal player of all-time and with good reason. The winger scored 84 goals for the club, including the only goal of the 2003 FA Cup Final triumph over Southampton. He was on target 14 times in the Premier League in back-to-back seasons, while eight goals in North London derbies will only cement one's popularity.

Few figures were more integral to Wenger's Invincibles team than Pirès, who certainly enjoyed his prime years at Highbury, departing for Villarreal in 2006. He very much remains a top-tier, bona fide Gunners legend, but that is only enough to secure third place in this Francophile ranking.

2) Patrick Vieira

During the early years of his Arsenal reign, Wenger built two very different great teams, the double winners of '98 and then the Invincibles six years later. A pivotal player in both was Patrick Vieira. Wenger's first signing, he arrived from AC Milan for £3.5 million in the summer of '96 and, from day one, it was clear he was on a different level. His rocket against Newcastle in 97/98 was one of the most memorable moments of that campaign as they landed the Premier League title and FA Cup.

In total, Vieira made 405 appearances for Arsenal, only 17 men have more, with Dennis Bergkamp the only non-British or Irish player above him. The central midfielder was instrumental to the club's most successful ever period, fittingly converting a penalty to defeat Manchester United in the 2005 FA Cup Final, his last-ever touch for the club. To this day, he remains the gold-standard of Arsenal midfielders.

1) Thierry Henry

At the very top of any Arsenal ranking is where one will rightly find Thierry Henry. His tally of 228 goals is the most by any player in the club's entire history, breaking Ian Wright's record against Sparta Prague in 2005, a figure unlikely to be reached any time soon. When he returned in 2011, marking the occasion by scoring against Leeds, that is an all-time Emirates moment.

Henry twice won the European Golden Shoe and finished second in the 2004 Ballon d'Or ranking, as well as collecting a record four Premier League Golden Boots, picking up two league title. Before joining Arsenal, his career wasn't really going anywhere, but Wenger turned Henry into the most complete, most devastating centre-forward English football has ever known. Not since the days of Henry, Vieira and Pirés have Arsenal won the Premier League, but could that change in 2026?

Complete list of Frenchmen to play for Arsenal