The Middle Man: Arsenal v Chelsea – who is the most equally Arsenal-y and Chelsea-ish player in Premier League history?

By Adam Hurrey

There hasn’t been much cross-pollination of players between Arsenal and Chelsea in the Premier League era. That’s perhaps thanks to any combination of wage structures, a lengthy top-four rivalry, a continuous clash of styles and sheer geography.

Since 1992, only eight players have appeared both in the red and white of Arsenal and the blue of Chelsea - certainly not enough to make you rummage too far back into your brain but just about right for our purposes here: just who is the most equally Arsenal-y and Chelsea-ish player in Premier League history? Who sits proudly in the middle of that Venn diagram, with Tony Adams and John Terry staring disapprovingly from either side?

This subtle quest requires some introduction. What are the criteria, you ask? Appearances, trophies, legacy, style of play, cult status, acrimony of departure - it’s about all of these things...and none of them.

Essentially, the winner of this perfectly-poised title is the man whose statue - if it were ever commissioned - would be built equidistant between the Emirates Stadium and Stamford Bridge (that is, for the record, halfway up Welbeck Street in Marylebone, which may come in handy if and when Arsenal’s injury-prone forward ever seeks to kickstart his career in SW6)

Are we clear? Let’s analyse the candidates.

Lassana Diarra

Burdened with a “new Makelele” tag upon arrival at Chelsea as a 20-year-old in 2005, Diarra spent an unsuccessful two years trying to hold down a regular first-team place, before making what seemed like a logical move to play under Arsene Wenger at Arsenal.

Nevertheless, opportunities were even harder to come by in the Gunners midfield and he was on the move again, just five months later, to join Portsmouth. In summary, then: this is not the man we’re looking for.

Verdict: Arsenal 33% Chelsea 67%

Yossi Benayoun

A slightly bewildering signing in a quiet summer for Chelsea in 2010, and 24 appearances in three years confirms it. A season-long loan at Arsenal - perhaps more suited to his wispy presence - proved rather more productive in 2011/12. His hopes here, though, are dashed by his rather more significant contributions at West Ham and Liverpool.

Verdict: Arsenal 55% Chelsea 45%

Emmanuel Petit

Three seasons each at Arsenal and Chelsea for the pony-tailed midfield operator, but his Double-winning partnership with Patrick Vieira comfortably eases out an injury-hit spell at a pre-Mourinho Chelsea from the collective football consciousness. This isn’t even close.

Verdict: Arsenal 71% Chelsea 29%

Nicolas Anelka

A rather more challenging case to inspect here. Having been shrewdly plucked by Wenger from the youth team at Paris Saint-Germain, a teenage Anelka was soon showcasing his pace off the shoulder of defenders and some unerring finishing. It was also at Highbury that he assumed his career-long reputation for sullenness, before securing Arsenal a hefty profit after engineering a £22.3m move to Real Madrid - kicking off one of the most high-class journeyman careers ever seen.

Almost a decade after bursting on to the scene, it was a different Anelka - more well-rounded but also less potent - who earned a £15m winter move to Chelsea on the back of a career-resurrecting spell with Bolton. He played more games for the Blues than anyone else, but diminishing returns - and that familiar dearth of enthusiasm - saw him leave for the Chinese Super League and a tenth new club in 16 years.

Once again, his peripatetic existence dilutes his legacies at both clubs, but that electric emergence under Arsene Wenger perhaps wins out comfortably enough.

Verdict: Arsenal 59% Chelsea 41%

Petr Cech

Surely a no-brainer here. 11 seasons and 13 major trophies with Chelsea, a career-threatening injury, and an affinity with Blues fans that survived even a move to the Emirates in 2015, when his first appearance in an Arsenal shirt seemed rather surreal. At 34, time isn’t on Cech’s side to establish quite the same CV with the Gunners.

Verdict: Arsenal 18% Chelsea 82%

Cesc Fabregas

Like Anelka, another starlet lured to Arsenal with the promise of immediate first-team football under Arsene Wenger but Fabregas certainly nailed his colours to the Arsenal mast. Eight seasons with the Gunners - three of them as captain - may only have yielded a single FA Cup, but his considerable efforts (including some impressive accuracy involving a slice of pizza and Sir Alex Ferguson) wrote him into Arsenal’s modern history books.

Over 300 games after joining from Barcelona, the mounting speculation of Fabregas’ return eventually materialised into a three-season spell back at the Nou Camp, during which Arsenal apparently retained first option on his next move. That move, however, would be to Stamford Bridge in 2014 where - along with Diego Costa - he inspired the Blues to a fourth Premier League title and the first of his career.

Once his length of service, his mixed reception on return visits to the Emirates, and his fluctuating Chelsea fortunes are taken into consideration, it seems he is a couple of seasons away from tipping the balance away from his north London legacy. Close, but no cigar.

Verdict: Arsenal 58% Chelsea 42%

Ashley Cole

Plenty of potential here: seven seasons and two Premier League titles with Arsenal, eight years and a Champions League win with Chelsea. Cole was arguably at the peak of his lung-bursting powers in his last two seasons with the Gunners, and certainly did his bit to keep the fire burning in the rivalries with Manchester United, Tottenham and Chelsea.

The tapping-up scandal in 2005, however, eventually led Cole to the Arsenal exit door, where Jose Mourinho was waiting to whisk him away to Stamford Bridge to begin the second act of his career. Relations with Gunners fans were duly soured, to the point where “Cashley” took demonstrable pleasure in their trophy drought as he secured silverware with Chelsea.

All in all - despite his ability to rub almost anyone up the wrong way, regardless of the shirt on his back - Cole left fonder memories at Stamford Bridge, even if Arsenal fans’ fury doesn’t quite extinguish his north London years from consideration.

Verdict: Arsenal 46% Chelsea 54%

The Middle Man: William Gallas

Being the makeweight in the protracted Ashley Cole deal is perhaps reason alone for William Gallas to sit so comfortably in the centre of this equation. Gallas’ own mini-pantomime of a Chelsea exit - in which the club accused him of threatening to score an own goal unless he was granted a move away - neatly undid his previous good work in a blue shirt, and paved the way for a fresh start at the Emirates.

A year later, Gallas was the surprise choice to succeed Thierry Henry as Arsenal’s captain and ingratiated himself further with the fans with goals against Manchester United and Chelsea in his second season. After that, a sit-in protest after a traumatic defeat to Birmingham - and some choice remarks about his teammates’ lack of stomach for the fight - led to Gallas being stripped of the armband. His familiar body of work was finally completed with some unreasonable wage demands and a free transfer to Spurs.

A knack for crucial goals, a penchant for upsetting the applecart, and a fondness for going out all guns blazing. He managed the admirable task of uniting Chelsea and Arsenal fans in their disgust at his behaviour, and then went and joined one of their common enemies.

Verdict: Arsenal 50% Chelsea 50%