Arsenal players who have jumped ship to Manchester United and City: With Thomas Vermaelen wanted by Louis van Gaal this summer, was Arsene Wenger right to let these other stars leave?

Wanted man: Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen could join rivals Manchester United this summer

Still smiling? Arsene Wenger has sold a number of players to United and Manchester City in recent seasons, but was he right to do so?  

EMMANUEL ADEBAYOR

BOUGHT FOR: £7million from Monaco

ARSENAL: Nicknamed 'Baby Kanu' when he arrived but failed to win a trophy in his three years at Arsenal. The closest he came was a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea in the 2006 League Cup final, when he was sent off for a fracas with Frank Lamapard and received a four-match ban. He was not always known for his work-rate but he did have some magic moments, earning a place in the PFA Team of the Year for the 2007/08 season and winning Match of the Day's goal of the season for flicking the ball up on the edge of the box and smashing it on the volley over Paul Robinson against Tottenham. In 2009 he scored another memorable goal against Villarreal in the quarter-final of the Champions League,  when he controlled the ball with his chest while running backwards then scored a bicycle kick into the bottom right corner.

SOLD FOR: £25million

MANCHESTER CITY: He signed a five-year contract, only lasted three and almost half of that was on loan. Adebayor got off to a flyer when he scored in his opening four City games, becoming one of only six players to do so for a new club. But it went downhill from there. Again, he won nothing there, his most memorable moment being when he scored against Arsenal and ran the full length of the pitch to celebrate in front of his old fans. In another controversial incident, again against Arsenal, Robin Van Persie accused Adebayor of kicking him in the face and he was subsequently banned for three matches for it.

VERDICT: HIT

Red to blue: Emmanuel Adebayor became a figure of hate among Arsenal fans after joining Manchester City

GAEL CLICHY

BOUGHT FOR: £250,000 from Cannes

ARSENAL: Wenger personally went to Clichy's family household in Tournefeuille, France, to convince him to sign for Arsenal and in 2003 he joined the club. In his first season he was largely back-up to Ashely Cole but played enough to become the youngest player, at 18 years and 10 months, to win the Premier League in Arsenal's undefeated campaign. He added the 2005 FA Cup and 2004 Community Shield to that and was part of the side that was runner up in the 2006 Champions League.

But he was another Arsenal player who grew tired of their failure to win trophies and ended his eight-year spell there in 2011. After signing for City, he said: 'It got to a point for me where I didn’t just want to challenge for the titles only to be disappointed in the final weeks of the season. I wanted to play for a club that would win them.' Ouch.

TRANSFER FEE: £7million

MANCHESTER CITY: Clichy's comments on leaving Arsenal may have been barbed, but, like Nasri, he has found silverware has followed his move to City. The left-back has twice won the Premier League – again helping the club to their first ever title – and also the League Cup and Community Shield.

He was initially back-up to Aleksandar Kolarov but managed to oust the Serbian from the flank and make it his own. Injuries have hampered him recently, but he signed a new four-year contract at the club last year which will keep him there until at least 2017 – so plenty more trophies could be on their way.

VERDICT: MISS

Fresh start: Gael Clichy has won two Premier League titles since leaving the Emirates for the Etihad

ROBIN VAN PERSIE

BOUGHT FOR: £2.75million from Feyenoord

ARSENAL: Robin Van Persie's eight-year Arsenal career was both prolific and frustrating. He was plagued with injuries throughout and in the early stages fans were unsure if he was ever going to reach the potential with which he joined the club. But by the time he departed he had established himself as one of the hottest strikers in the world. At Arsenal he won the FA Cup in 2005 and Community Shield in 2004 and was their top goalscorer for four of the seasons he was there - half of them - and twice their player of the year. He also won the Premier League Golden Boot award in his last season at the club, before his shock move to rivals Manchester United.

SOLD FOR: £24million

MANCHESTER UNITED: The Dutchman continued from where he left off at Arsenal and won the Golden Boot award again in the first season at his new club. He was unstoppable that year and his 26 league goals fired United to the Premier League title and they won the Community Shield at the end of that summer too. The 31-year-old was one of the few bright sparks in David Moyes' disastrous spell at the club and he ended the season with 30 goals. Under his former Holland boss Louis Van Gaal, who he finished third at this summer's World Cup with, he has the chance to flourish even further.

VERDICT: MISS

Danger man: Arsenal fans were left frustrated by Robin van Persie's departure for Manchester United in 2012

BACARY SAGNA

BOUGHT FOR: £6million from Auxerre

ARSENAL: Sagna spent seven years at Arsenal during which he was one of the best full-backs in the country. He was part of the FA Cup winning side last season, but that was the only trophy he won at the club. He was chosen as right-back in the PFA Team of the Year in his first season in 2007/08 and again in the 2010/11 campaign. Slightly soured his exit from the club by publicly turning down the offer of a two-year contract then joining one of their title rivals.

SOLD FOR: Free

MANCHESTER CITY: Cynics would say he has only gone for the money, but the defender vehemently denied that after securing a three-year deal on wages of £150,000-per-week, £60,000 more than he was on at Arsenal. Sagna said: 'First of all, I want to clear something up. I keep reading many things about me, about my salary and me being greedy. But I'm not. I stayed six or seven years with the same salary at Arsenal. It's clearly not for the money. Personally, I just wanted a change.' Only time will tell if he warms the bench or is an integral part of the side.

VERDICT: UNDECIDED

On the move: Bacary Sagna is set for his first season at Manchester City after leaving the Emirates on a free  

SAMIR NASRI

BOUGHT FOR: £15.8million from Marseille

ARSENAL: Arsene Wenger again used his extensive French contacts to pluck a young Nasri from the country. He was compared to Zinedine Zidane on arrival but, although showing his ability in flashes, he initially struggled for consistency and was not helped by breaking his leg in a pre-season match in 2009. In the 2010/11 season he really took off, twice winning their Fans' Player of the Month award for his displays and scoring 15 goals that campaign. He was nominated for the PFA Players' Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year award, losing out to Gareth Bale and Jack Wilshere.

Wenger was forced to sell the player that summer after he refused to sign a new deal and would've been out of contract a year later, allowing him to sign pre-contract agreements in January. 'Football rules are made like that, that the player can be worth a lot of money today and nothing in six months,' Wenger said. 'So it doesn’t look completely logical but, at the end of the day, of course, we are forced into a decision like that for psychological and financial reasons.'

SOLD FOR: £24million

MANCHESTER CITY: Regardless of what Arsenal fans think – and their opinion of Nasri has not been helped by his continual digs at his former club – when it comes to silverware the move has been a resounding success. In his debut season he helped City win their first ever Premier League title and then added another one to the trophy cabinet last year. He has also won the Community Shield and a League Cup there. Despite this, his attitude has been such a problem that he was omitted from France's World Cup squad this summer. Former manager Roberto Mancini once said, albeit in jest, ‘I would like to give him a punch' because of his attitude on the pitch.

VERDICT: MISS

Trouble: Arsene Wenger was forced to cash in on Samir Nasri after the midfielder refused to sign a new deal

VIDEO Nasri 'to quit' France  

KOLO TOURE

BOUGHT FOR: £150,000 from ASEC Abidjan

ARSENAL: Toure joined Arsenal in February 2002 but did not make his first-team debut until the Community Shield final that summer. He was initially considered a utility player, as a defensive midfielder or right-back having played further forward earlier in his career. But in a stroke of genius, Wenger moved him to centre-back for the start of the 2003/04 season and he quickly established himself as one of the most formidable defenders in the Premier League. That season he was at the heart of their defence, alongside Sol Campbell, in the title-winning Invincibles side who were unbeaten all season. He caught the tail end of Arsenal's trophy-laden spell and also picked up two FA Cups and two Community Shields during his seven years at the club. In April 2009 he handed in a transfer request – which was turned down – after a row with William Gallas, but eventually left the club that summer.

SOLD FOR: £16million

MANCHESTER CITY: Toure was appointed club captain by Mark Hughes but had the armband taken away from him at the start of the 2010/11 season when Roberto Mancini took over. He was still a part of Mancini's first-team plans and would go on to win a Premier League title, FA Cup and Community Shield.

His time at the club was mired in controversy, however, after he failed a drugs test in March 2011 and was banned for six months. It was the beginning of the end of his time at the club and he moved to Liverpool on a free transfer last summer.

VERDICT: HIT

Still at the top: Kolo Toure is now at Liverpool after swapping Arsenal for Manchester City back in 2009