Thanks for Everything, Leo

He arrived as the sensible third choice and leaves a Premier League Champion. On 3.5 years of clutch goals and proving everyone wrong

On the 4th of July, Adam Leventhal and James McNicholas from The Athletic broke the news that Arsenal and Besiktas had reached an agreement on the sale of Leandro Trossard:

Besiktas have agreed a €20million (£17.1m, $22.9m) deal with Arsenal to sign Leandro Trossard.

The deal consists of an €18m fee with a further €2m in add-ons but the transfer is not yet completed, with wages up to around €9m and personal terms in the process of being finalised… The deal is considered unlikely to progress until after the national team’s run in the World Cup ends.

This move isn’t unexpected, with Trossard on most people’s lists for a potential sale this summer but I have to admit I am still a bit bummed to face the actual reality of Arsenal without him in the team.

He’s been a player that was a bit of a second choice, or after thought his entire stint at Arsenal but he’s fought hard and will leave the team as a cult hero and well deserved Premier League Champion.

He joined Arsenal 3.5 years ago and was arguably the third choice player that January after chasing Mykhailo Mudryk and flirting with João Félix on loan. When he signed for Arsenal that winter these were my final thoughts on the player:

I look at a move like this and see a player that while not flashy and exciting like a Mudyrk. We can’t project a massive upside onto him and see a player who COULD become a top 5 attacking player in the world. With Trossard, we know much more what he is and that is less likely to change. I can totally understand why that might feel a little underwhelming to fans, in hypothetical transfers the right tail outcomes always come true and that’s just not as exciting with a 28 year old.

I do believe that he comes in with a very high floor. He is a finished product (maybe at the end of his prime with hopefully a graceful decline over the next couple of years) and coming in from a Premier League team, who play in a similar style. His adaption should be as minimal as possible, giving him the best chance to make a positive impact over the next few months.

I am happy to say that I really liked the move for Arsenal but even as a cheerleader for the transfer, I was probably too pessimistic on how good the best case could turn out for Arsenal.

He was able to make the expected instant impact down the stretch in the 2022/23 season and then just never stopped making an impact for Arsenal.

I thought that he would lose his place to Gabriel Martinelli, or Eberechi Eze, or that he would get sold last summer but nope, he knew that he could make an impact and fought to make sure everyone else knew it too.

This meme from friend of the newsletter Billy Carpenter, that adapts the classic Moneyball philosophy sums things up pretty succinctly and perfectly.

Since joining Arsenal he has scored 34 goals in the Premier League plus Champions League. He has been incredibly good at finding pockets of space inside of the box and his incredible ball striking has turned good looks into goals at an elite rate.

Since Trossard joined Arsenal in January of 2023 in the Premier League plus Champions League, he has provided the third most non-penalty goals, the third most assists, and is also third for the combined goals plus assists.

His output was also incredibly consistent over his 3.5 years with Arsenal, here are his goals plus assists tallies by season for Premier League plus Champions League.

• 2022/23 (partial season): 10 np G+A, 0.83 per 90

• 2023/24: 18 np G+A, 0.70 per 90

• 2024/25: 19 np G+A, 0.51 per 90

• 2025/26: 16 np G+A, 0.53 per 90

His end product has also been incredibly clutch. He has scored 20 goals that gave Arsenal a lead or brought them back to level, with an additional 6 that pushed the margin to a more comfortable +2 level.

None of the goals however will be remembered like the one he scored against West Ham to give Arsenal a late lead in a game that kept their gap at 5 points on Manchester City in this last season. If you needed a goal in pivotal situation, Trossard was one of the players that you wanted on the pitch for Arsenal.

His assists haven’t quite been as skewed towards “clutch” but he’s added an additional 10 assists that moved Arsenal into a winning position.

The business of selling Trossard itself is hard to argue with.

Trossard turns 32 in December, €20m is a fair price for that age profile, and this is exactly the kind of sale that a club with Arsenal’s ambition, and desire to continue to push to improve is supposed to make. Knowing a move is right and feeling good about it are two different things, though, and this one lands squarely in the gap between them.

What I’ll remember about Trossard is that he was the rare signing where knowing exactly what the player is turned out to be the whole point. He arrived as the sensible third choice behind flashier names, I projected a productive but graceful decline, and instead spent three and a half years refusing to hand his minutes to anyone. No massive upside story, no highlight-reel dribbling, just a player who found the soft spot in the box, struck the ball as cleanly as anyone in the squad, and delivered over and over in the minutes that decide seasons.

Trossard leaves as a Premier League Champion and a cult hero, which is about the best possible outcome for a January signing nobody was excited about. His contributions to this run will be remembered for a long time and every Arsenal will carry a soft spot in their heart for him.

Thanks for everything, Leo.