Arsenal will resume their 10th successive Champions League campaign against debutants Sevilla on Wednesday night. Arsenal.com's Matt Fortune kicks off our comprehensive build-up to the Group H tie with a look at the star names who have graced the shirts of both clubs.
Davor Suker
Sevilla 1991-96 - Games 153, Goals 76
Arsenal 1999-00 - Games 39, Goals 11
Signed by Arsène Wenger in 1999 from Real Madrid, Croatian
legend Suker played just one season for the Gunners. His time at
the Club came towards the end of his glittering career and he
scored 11 times in 39 appearances. In Spain he scored
twice on his Sevilla debut and in the subsequent five years he
earned praise across the globe as one of the finest strikers of the
time.
Lauren
Sevilla 'B' 1997 - Games 17, Goals 3
Arsenal 2000-07 - Games 241, Goals 9
Raised in Sevilla, Lauren played in their 'B' team for one
year at the age of 19. He played 17 times, scoring three goals,
before a move to Levante and then Mallorca from who Arsenal signed
him in 2000. He made an instant impact scoring eight minutes into
his Highbury debut against Liverpool. The Cameroonian went on to
play 241 times for Arsenal, scoring nine times.
Josè Antonio Reyes
Sevilla 1999-04 - Games 95, Goals 25
Arsenal 2004-07 - Games 110, Goals 23
Reyes joined Sevilla aged 10 and remained there until his big-money
transfer to Arsenal in January 2004. He was a popular figure having
been born and raised in the city and his reputation as a versatile
forward attracted interest from all over. Reyes made an early
impact at Arsenal with two goals to knock Chelsea out the FA Cup.
He left Arsenal less than two years after joining and spent one
year on loan at Real Madrid before securing a move to Atletico
Madrid in the summer of 2007.
Julio Baptista
Sevilla 2003-05 - Games 63, Goals 38
Arsenal 2006-07 - Games 35, Goals 10
Julio Baptista spend two seasons at Sevilla scoring 38 times in 63
games, and was linked with a move to Arsenal in 2005 only to be
unveiled by Spanish giants Real Madrid. He finally did join Arsenal
in 2006 as part of the loan deal that saw Reyes join Real and
scored 10 times in 35 appearances for the Gunners, including a
fantastic foursome to defeat Liverpool during the Club's run to
the Carling Cup Final.
