Seaman Keown Bould Adams Winterburn Merson Vieira Platt Dixon Hartson Wright
The Arsenal team for Arsène Wenger's first match as manager, a 2–0 win against Blackburn Rovers.

The 1996–97 season was the 99th season of competitive football played by Arsenal. The club dismissed manager Bruce Rioch in the close season, who spent a year in-charge. After much speculation, Frenchman Arsène Wenger was appointed as his replacement – the club's first manager born outside of the British Isles. At the end of the campaign, Arsenal finished third in the Premier League and missed out on UEFA Champions League qualification. They made exits in the fourth round of both the FA Cup and Football League Cup to Leeds United and Liverpool respectively. In Europe, the club were eliminated in the UEFA Cup first round to Borussia Mönchengladbach of Germany.

Arsenal sold several fringe players in the transfer window, notably David Hillier to Portsmouth and Paul Dickov to Manchester City. Midfielders Rémi Garde and Patrick Vieira were purchased from RC Strasbourg and AC Milan respectively. John Hartson moved to West Ham United in January 1997; he was replaced in the squad by teenager Nicolas Anelka, who joined Arsenal a month later from Paris Saint-Germain.

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