Denilson started his career in his homeland with Sao Paulo, coming through the youth system there before making his professional debut in 2005.

However, he didn’t feature there as much as he would have liked, and made a slightly surprising move to Premier League giants Arsenal in 2006 for as little as £3 million.

Given that the midfielder had a decent time at Arsenal, let us now take a look back at his Gunners career…

Denilson moved to North London in the summer of 2006 as manager Arsene Wenger looked to strengthen his midfield options, which was the same transfer window that the Frenchman brought in Alex Song and Tomas Rosicky.

However, former Brazilian Under-17 international Denilson had to wait until December 30 2006 for his Premier League debut, when he came on as an 83rd-minute substitute in their surprise 1-0 defeat to Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.

He went on to make a further nine Premier League appearances that term to help Arsenal finish fourth in the Premier League.

Denilson’s impressive start to life in North London earned him a new long-term deal in October 2007, and went on to make 13 starts in all competitions that term to help the Gunners finish third in the Premier League.

But it was the 2008/09 campaign which was the 29-year-old’s best at the Emirates, as the likes of Mathieu Flamini and Gilberto Silva left the club in the summer, allowing Denilson to make 36 Premier League starts.

The 2009/10 campaign saw the Brazilian struggle for regular first team football, mainly due to a back problem, and he started only half of their 38 Premier League games that term.

Despite signing a new five-year deal in October 2009, Denilson went on to make just 16 Premier League appearances in the 2010/11 campaign, of which only six were starts.

Unsurprisingly, his Arsenal career came to an end in the summer of 2011, bringing to an end a five-year spell which had seen him play 153 times for the Gunners, and net 13 goals.