Former Arsenal transfer targets among 10 who might regret leaving the Premier League

The grass isn’t always greener, you know? These 10 had the nerve to leave the Premier League in the summer and are already living to regret their decisions.

Including two former Arsenal transfer targets and one Gunners loanee, here we go…

Ten players regretting leaving the Premier League in the summer

Douglas Luiz (Aston Villa to Juventus)
As far as disastrous transfers go, this is right up there. There’s plenty of time for Luiz to turn things around at Juventus but he is hardly endearing himself to the club’s fanbase. The Brazilian has started twice in Serie A this season and came off the bench in the Old Lady’s Champions League wins over PSV and RB Leipzig.

In the latter game, Luiz conceded a penalty for a silly handball a minute after coming off the bench and days later conceded another against Cagliari in the league. At least he waited 26 minutes to do the honours that time. That cost Juventus two points and is the only Serie A goal they have conceded in 2024/25.

Thiago Motta started the former Aston Villa favourite in the following game against Lazio in a lovely display of faith; he didn’t play very well but at least he got a full 90. Luiz lost possession 14 times, misplaced eight passes, recorded no tackles or clearances and missed a big chance.

It has been difficult for Luiz off the pitch too: reports in Italy claim he and his partner – Juventus Women player Alisha Lehmann – had watches and jewels worth over €500,000 stolen from their home.

Luiz had plenty of opportunities to leave Villa during his time there, with Arsenal coming close to signing him a couple of years ago. What could have been.

And how is he enjoying Aston Villa being bloody brilliant?

Joao Palhinha (Fulham to Bayern Munich)
After coming close to signing him in 2023, Bayern Munich landed Portuguese international Palhinha – who was also linked with Arsenal – from Fulham in the 2024 summer transfer window. Interest was first expressed under Thomas Tuchel and the German giants followed through after his departure, even with the more attack-minded Vincent Kompany in charge.

The lack of pragmatism in the Allianz Arena dugout has done Palhinha no favours. He has one Bundesliga start, 14 minutes in the Champions League and 13 minutes in the DfB Pokal under his belt in 2024/25. That is far from ideal for a £45million player.

It is a long season and with Bayern expecting deep runs in every competition, Palhinha will get minutes, but it looks like his style is not a great fit in Kompany’s system. An injury to Aleksandar Pavlovic at the weekend saw the former Fulham midfielder come off the bench for 82 minutes at Stuttgart and a place in midfield next to Joshua Kimmich could be his to lose after the young German broke his collarbone. Bayern have confirmed he will miss “the coming weeks”. Go on Joao, prove us wrong.

Julian Alvarez (Man City to Atletico Madrid)
Alvarez left Man City for regular game time and is certainly getting that at Atletico Madrid. He has played in every fixture this season but has only completed the full 90 minutes once, which might result in a transfer request in January. After all, he played 54 times across all competitions for City last season and was still not content.

The Argentine World Cup winner has only scored three times for his new club, and two of those goals were scored from the bench. In his only other substitute appearance, he claimed an assist. The last thing he wants is a super-sub tag.

Bobby Clark (Liverpool to Red Bull Salzburg)
Clark is only young so his inclusion is perhaps a little harsh, but Red Bull Salzburg’s start to the season under ex-Liverpool boss Pep Lijnders has been rotten and the 19-year-old only has three starts for his new team and is yet to complete 90 minutes in an Austrian Bundesliga or Champions League match.

Still, Liverpool will not regret selling Clark. They got a cool £10million for him.

Albert Sambi Lokonga (Arsenal to Sevilla)
Arsenal’s Lokonga is still technically a Gunner, though there is a chance his loan move to Sevilla will become permanent at the end of the season.

Sevilla have a buy option in the transfer agreement but if the Belgian’s first few months at the club are anything to go by, he is going to be back to square one next summer. Loans at Crystal Palace, Luton Town and now Sevilla were supposed to grow Lokonga’s value for Arsenal to recoup the £15million they spent on him, but they have done the opposite. He now has two years left on his deal and the 2024 summer window was the Gunners’ best opportunity to get a decent fee after a solid year at Luton.

Fat chance of that at the end of this season; Lokonga has made a gargantuan two starts for Sevilla.

Ben Godfrey (Everton to Atalanta)
Versatile defender Godfrey left Everton for Atalanta in the summer but only has one appearance in Serie A this season, which came as a right wing-back.

Unfit for two and an unused substitute in Atalanta’s other five league encounters, the 26-year-old does not appear to have made the best move for his career. But at least he’s far away from Everton.

Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City to Sevilla)
Anthony Martial, Bryan Gil, Alejo Veliz and Hannibal Mejbri, now Lokonga and Iheanacho…don’t go to Sevilla, people.

Nigerian striker Iheanacho joined the Spanish side as a free agent following the expiry of his Leicester City contract and has only made three starts in La Liga, coming off the bench in two other matches. Unsurprisingly, he has no goal contributions for his new club.

Iheanacho was far from a regular under Enzo Maresca last season yet made the rather ambitious switch to Sevilla. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but it is safe to say he has f***ed it – unless he is happy not being a regular starter.

Dennis Praet (Leicester City to Royal Antwerp)
We know you all would have been up in arms if we didn’t include Praet, an ex-Leicester teammate of Iheanacho.

The Belgian returned to his home country to sign for Royal Antwerp and has started where he left off at the King Power by warming the bench. Not quite the fairy-tale return the 30-year-old had hoped for.

Issa Kabore (Man City to Benfica)
Kabore enjoyed a solid year on loan at Luton from Man City and is spending another year away, this time in Portugal with Benfica. An ambitious move for the young Burkina Faso international, who has a grand total of two minutes in the Portuguese top flight in 2024/25.

Ivan Perisic (Tottenham to Hadjuk Split)
Former Tottenham winger Perisic is no longer regretting his transfer to Hadjuk Split. We have moved to the past tense. He is already gone after falling out with Gennaro Gattuso, which can’t be too hard to do. The Croatian is now at PSV, who will win the Eredivisie at a canter.