The 5 Arsenal players who destroyed their legacies to sign for Man City

Few things bring more mixed emotions than football transfers. Arsenal fans have had their fair share of heartbreaking transfers, particularly in the early Emirates Stadium era.

In hindsight, Arsene Wenger needed to make such signings because he valued Arsenal operating within their own means. This was despite the financial doping that was happening at other clubs, namely Manchester City.

Arsenal obviously got a wad of cash from Man City for all the player sales, but we can now look back on it as dirty money. Here are five Arsenal players who ruined their Arsenal legacies by joining Man City.

The 5 Arsenal players who left to sign for Man City during their breaches

1. Kolo Touré

Kolo Touré was one of the first, and he's arguably the most forgiven player to make the switch between Arsenal and Man City.

Still, the Arsenal Invincible won many league titles across Great Britain - However, the world will only look back at his time with Arsenal, Liverpool and Celtic as being the respectable tenures during his career. It is a shame that an Arsenal legend tarnished his career by joining Man City, but he probably didn't know about Man City's dirty laundry.

2. Gaël Clichy

Gaël Clichy is another Arsenal Invincible who won the title for Man City. However, his two league titles in the North of England are under serious review. Regardless of the result of Man City's appeals, many have already started viewing their achievements under this regime as not counting.

Clichy made the switch directly from Arsenal to Man City in 2011, and within his first season, he'd already tasted a Premier League medal again.

3. Emmanuel Adebayor

Playing for a cheating team is the least of Arsenal fans' concerns when it comes to Emmanuel Adebayor. Undeniably a great striker, his attitude stunk, and after running the length of the pitch to knee slide in front of his former supporters, Arsenal fans can say they had the last laugh.

Adebayor joined Man City in 2009, when their financial breaches first began. Thankfully, he didn't hit the ground running, and Man City would prefer to send him out on loan to Tottenham. At least his trophies would have counted at Tottenham... Checks notes; he didn't win anything at Tottenham either. Obviously.

4. Bacary Sagna

Known as being one of the best full-backs in the world during his time at Arsenal, it certainly hurt fans to see him sign for Man City in 2014.

Like some of the other players in this list, Sagna became a small fish in a big pond at Man City, and he didn't get anywhere near the same love and minutes as they did at Arsenal. Perhaps the grass isn't greener on the cheating side; who would have thought?

5. Samir Nasri

Oh, what could have been.

Samir Nasri was given the world by Arsene Wenger, who took him under his own wing. Nasri was given chance after chance at Arsenal, and he genuinely could have become one of the best players in the world at the Emirates Stadium.

However, in a tale as old as time, he chose to join Man City instead. Samir Nasri's career quickly went down the toilet after he left Arsenal. Yes, he won some trophies at Man City, but for much longer he can brag about them remains to be seen.

Conclusion

Man City are not entirely to blame for Arsenal selling a boatload of their players in the early Emirates Stadium era. Unlike Man City, Arsenal wanted to be transparent about their finances, so it took some tough decisions and player sales to get Arsenal to where they are today.

However, you can't help but ponder 'what if?' - What if these players never left to join Man City? Only time will tell, but those who enjoyed success at the time might live to regret the decision.

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