“We allowed him leave for just £20M and now he was ranked above all our players in the Balon d’Or ranking including Saka”- Arsenal Sporting Director Edu Gasper regrets letting his “world class” star leave for just £20M who is now placed above their star boy in the Balon d’Or

The footballing world descended on France for everyone’s favourite popularity contest on Sunday night, the Ballon d’Or, an award yet to be won by any Arsenal player, not even the great Thierry Henry.

Yes, a year after Lionel Messi won his eighth award, it was someone else’s turn to be crowned as the best player in the world.

This time, it was Manchester City’s Rodri, after he enjoyed yet another stellar 12 months that saw him lift the Premier League title and win Spain their fourth European Championship.

However, while the attention is firmly on the victorious Spaniard, there were another 29 players ranked by the voting journalists, including four Arsenal players and one former Gunner who was sold by Mikel Arteta early on in his stint at the club.

Arsenal’s Ballon d’Or nominated stars

The first Arsenal name lands in 26th place and is the indomitable Declan Rice, who has been an integral part of Arteta’s side since making his £105m switch to the Emirates last summer.

Since then, the Englishman has made 63 appearances for the club, scored eight goals, provided 12 assists, was named in the PFA Team of the Year and finished runner-up in the Gunners’ Player of the Season Award – not bad for a debut campaign.

William Saliba finished in 24th place, which some may see as relatively low for a player who made 50 appearances for the best defence in the Premier League last season.

We move down to 21st to get to arguably the North Londoners’ most important player and unquestionably the poster boy of this iteration of the team: Bukayo Saka.

The 42-capped international enjoyed his best campaign to date last season, racking up a frankly ridiculous haul of 20 goals and 14 assists in 47 appearances, meaning that he maintained a freakish average of a goal involvement once every 1.38 games for the league runners-up.

The 23-year-old phenom has continued that incredible form into this season and, in just 11 matches, has already scored four goals and provided seven assists, making it feel like he should have been ranked far higher on this list.

Finally, the highest-placed Arsenal player in this year’s Ballon d’Or list is club captain Martin Odegaard, who chalked up a tally of 22 goals and assists and was named the club’s Player of the Season for 23/24.

However, there are a couple of former Gooners on the list as well, including one who was ranked higher than the four aforementioned stars and was sold by Arteta four years ago.

Emilio Martinez’ Arsenal exit

Yes, the player in question is goalkeeping superstar Emiliano Martínez.

The Argentinian shot-stopper joined the Gunners’ reserve team in July 2010 for around £1m but didn’t really get a chance in the first team until Bernd Leno’s injury against Brighton & Hove Albion in June 2020.

With the German out of the team, the Mar del Plata-born star stepped up, ending the season with 23 first-team appearances and playing a vital role in the club’s unexpected FA Cup victory.

However, Arteta clearly didn’t rate him as highly as he did Leno, so when Aston Villa came in with a £20m offer in September of that year, the Spaniard gladly accepted it and sent the FA Cup winner on his way.

In the years since, the “world-class” 47-capped international, as dubbed by Gary Neville, has established himself as one of the best keepers in the game, making 171 appearances for the Villans, winning two Copa América title and playing a significant role in Argentina’s third World Cup triumph two years ago.

These achievements saw the former Arsenal man named the best goalkeeper in the world for the second year running on Sunday night and ranked 18th in the Ballon d’Or list overall, seven three places above Saka.

However, with all of that said, while Arteta might have been able to get more money for Martinez back in 2020, the Gunners now have a supremely talented shot-stopper of their own in David Raya, so getting rid of the World Cup winner when he did was probably the right decision for all parties.