Top five players to play for both Arsenal & Real Madrid

Many big names have played for both Madrid and Arsenal.

Vinicius Junior, the Real Madrid star winger, is heavily linked with Premier League giants Arsenal. Although the Gunners don’t have a long history of purchasing from Real Madrid, there have been some players who have played for both clubs.

Here we have ranked the top five players to play for both Arsenal & Real Madrid:

5. Jose Antonio Reyes

As a member of the Arsenal Invincibles, Jose Antonio Reyes has permanently cemented his place in Arsenal history. Reyes was a problem for defenders to deal with because of his amazing speed and skill set. The winger scored 16 goals in 69 Premier League games.

After that, Reyes briefly went on loan to Real Madrid. When he left Arsenal to join Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid’s city rivals, the Madridistas soon forgot about his time at the club.

4. Lassana Diarra

Lassana Diarra didn’t make much of an impact at Arsenal, but it wasn’t his fault. If anything, the young player’s best-performing days came after leaving the Gunners, hence Arsenal shouldn’t have allowed him to go.

Diarra was signed by Real Madrid, who turned him into an amazing player. After making the transfer, he never really turned back and went on to become a key midfield player for Los Blancos.

3. Nicolas Anelka

Nicolas Anelka’s best playing days were undoubtedly spent away from Real Madrid and Arsenal. In fact, Nicolas Anelka remained a journeyman after leaving Real Madrid at the start of the new millennium, playing for several of the best teams in Europe but never appearing to be settled.

2. Martin Odegaard

The world took notice of the Norwegian genius when he was signed by Real Madrid as a teenager. To cut a long tale short, Martin Odegaard’s time in the Spanish capital was not meant to be.

Before Mikel Arteta took a chance on him, he was in danger of becoming one of those “what if?” stories. Martin Odegaard was first signed on loan, but he made enough of an impression for Arsenal to sign him on a permanent deal. For the Gunners, this investment has now more than paid off as he is currently the club captain and led them to the Premier Legaue title and UCL final in the 2025-26 season.

1. Mesut Ozil

Mesut Ozil is still regarded as one of Arsenal’s most thrilling acquisitions. Arsene Wenger pulled off one of his iconic transfer surprises, bringing the hot talent Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid to Arsenal, before the era of ITKs (in-the-knows) and media covering deals at every stage.

Mesut Ozil, who is regarded as one of the world’s most creative players, was dishing out assists to Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema at the Bernabeu before joining Arsenal in 2013 for a then club-record fee of £42.5 million (€50 million).

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