5 former Arsenal players we can’t believe are currently without a club in 2025
Arsenal have a litany of former players at other clubs, but there are a few surprising names that are surprisingly unattached despite not having yet retired.
Of course, players like Nicolas Pepe and Olivier Giroud are still active, but we wanted to dig a little deeper and find those whose current unemployment has raised an eyebrow or two.
We’ve picked out five former Gunners that we can’t believe are currently without a club.
Takehiro Tomiyasu
Still recovering from a knee injury, Tomiyasu is biding his time before committing to a new club.
The Japanese international racked up 84 appearances for Arsenal during his four years at the club, but injuries hampered his final year with the Gunners.
Aged 27, he’ll be desperate to regain fitness and find a new club as soon as possible.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Oxlade-Chamberlain mutually terminated his contract with Besiktas over the summer and has since been training with the Arsenal Under-21s.
“Yes (there have been offers), but to be fair, most of them have been Europe, away from home,” Oxlade-Chamberlain told the Fozcast podcast.
“For me, I did two years away, which I found difficult on a family level. I was going 6-8 weeks without seeing my son and my missus.
“Mum and dad didn’t even get a look in because if I came back for a day or two, it would be seeing them [his son and fiancee].
“That was difficult, and I knew that I didn’t want to do that again – I wanted to be back in England. It’s just waiting for the right thing to pop up back here, that makes sense for my family.
“I’ve had offers, and I’ve had to say no to them because they weren’t right for me and for us. It’s about waiting for the right project, something I can be excited about, to go into and hit the ground running.”
Benik Afobe
Now 32, Afobe’s last club was Al-Mesaimeer in the Qatari division and he currently finds himself without a club.
Afobe was a well-known name and was tipped to be a future star, having come through England’s youth setup and featured in all the age group teams up to the Under-21s.
However, it didn’t quite pan out as expected, but he went on to net the majority of his goals in the Championship with 57 in 217 games while also boasting 10 in 63 in the Premier League.
He struggled to translate his form from the EFL into the top-flight and now finds himself awaiting the next step of his career, having featured for 12 clubs, including the DR Congo, to date.
Gilles Sunu
It is unclear if Sunu is retired, given that he hasn’t featured anywhere since 2023.
His last club were LB Chateauroux, but he has previously featured for Arsenal, Derby County, Lorient, Evian, and Angers.
His initial early burst for Arsenal’s reserve side had garnered some attention and made his full first team debut in the 2009-10 season in both the League Cup and Champions League.
He then spent the entirety of his Arsenal senior career on loan at Derby, Lorient and Lorient B. In 2010, he did manage to net in the UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship.
But a knee injury came shortly after and disrupted his progress.
Luke Freeman
After becoming the youngest player ever to feature in the FA Cup, big things were expected from Freeman.
He signed for Arsenal a year later, where he played in the youth setup. Shockingly, he never made a first-team appearance for the Gunners despite four years on their books.
He spent his time featuring in the reserves as well as being on loan in the EFL, but he went on to make over 100 appearances for three clubs: Stevenage, Bristol City and Queens Park Rangers.
His last club was Barnet and the now 34-year-old has been out of contract for almost two years.
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