Players Trading Chelsea for Arsenal: Have They Been Successful?

Chelsea and Arsenal have long held a fierce rivalry as they are the two most successful clubs based in London. However, this has not prevented the pair from conducting transfer business with each other. There is a common theme in recent history of players trading Stamford Bridge for the Emirates with little time left on their deals.

Jorginho
Jorginho has become the most recent player to make a switch from West London to North London with the Italian joining Mikel Arteta's title-chasing side on the deadline day of the January transfer window. The defensive midfielder has joined to bolster the Arsenal ranks as they aim to finish the job and win the Premier League title in May.

In Premier League bets Arsenal are now the -150 favorite to win their first title since the Invincible season of 2004. However in the odds to win English Premier League Manchester City are still well in the mix. Pep Guardiola's side are a slight outsider to defend their title at +120. Arteta's side will be reliant on Jorginho providing crucial depth to the likes of Granit Xhaka in their title run-in. But how did past signings from Chelsea fare? And could their fortunes at the Emirates provide a hint of how Jorginho may fare at Arsenal?

Welcome to The Arsenal, Jorginho 👊 pic.twitter.com/jHXqAUBKKQ

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) January 31, 2023

Petr Cech
Petr Cech was another highly controversial signing as he not only joined from huge rivals Chelsea when he was beyond his peak abilities, but Cech was a genuine legend at Stamford Bridge. Cech's time at Arsenal was overall an unsuccessful end to his career. The North London side were in a transitional period and were trying to instill a positive identity and playing style within the squad. However, Cech was constantly criticized for his inability to play out from the back and ultimately he was not an adequate fit in terms of the profile Arsenal required. Cech's general shot-stopping abilities were also sub-par, most notably in the Europa League final he made huge errors against his former club Chelsea, and at that point, his reputation at the Emirates was damaged beyond repair. 

David Luiz and Willian Borges
Chelsea recruited David Luiz and Willian Borges from Chelsea in consecutive seasons in 2019 and 2020 as there was hope both Brazilians could provide crucial experience to a young Arsenal team. However, the Gunners learnt yet again that taking players who were deemed surplus to requirements at one of their main rivals was not the greatest method of improving as a club. David Luiz had lost much of his physical attributes by the time he joined Arsenal and developed a reputation for fouling players in dangerous positions frequently as he simply did not have the pace to keep up with the pacey attackers. Willian provided positive performances in patches but ultimately displayed a lack of consistency and sharpness that had been evident at Stamford Bridge for several years.

David Luiz will leave Arsenal at the end of the season, Goal can confirm 👋 pic.twitter.com/ZvRETrl2rE

— GOAL (@goal) May 14, 2021

Arsenal's bargain hunting at Stamford Bridge in the recent past has not been the most successful, however, Jorginho could certainly put a halt to that trend. He played a starring role in becoming champion of Europe with club and country in the past few years and was even recognized as the UEFA men's Player of the Year in 2021. Arsenal may have finally poached a top player off Chelsea rather than taking their rivals out of favor scraps.