At a time in football where £ 20m barely puts you on the left leg of a 16-year-old English defender, the value of a pound has been lost. A “bet” in the transfer market will force most clubs today to take out a second mortgage … or cost £ 35 million and yet play week after week.
Bring your mind back to just over 20 and the money clubs that would spend on established, or even emerging, talents are unrecognizable. For Arsenal, the best players who have ever worn the shirt were bought in no time. When they operated the right way, that is.
That’s why, if you’re an Arsenal fan, the following could be a painful read, given the current state of affairs. But aside from today’s failures, who are the best purchases the club made during the Premier League era?
Read on to find out 90mintop ten.
The large French contingent at Arsenal became a kind of joke, “if I wanted to go to France and meet French people, I would only go to Highbury instead”.
Emmanuel Petit was not a joke, however. He was an imposing and combative midfielder, whose collaboration with Patrick Vieira at the end of the balanced brute force of the late 90s with polite push to an almost impeccable effect.
With a cost of just £ 2.5 million when he joined Monaco, it was steel in midfield that Arsene Wenger craved, making an immediate impact with the double winning season of 1997/98.
A cult hero in Arsenal just like he is a national treasure in Nigeria, Kanu has never been a great goal scorer. What made him so adored in North London then? Well, he had talent, elegance, he played with a smile on his face and always put the needs of the team in front of his.
Equally capable of tripping over himself because of his tall structure as the goalkeeper was biting, there was something about Kanu that had impressed the fans.
It brought the team so much to hit the back of the net, making 180 appearances in five seasons and raising four trophies along the way.
I don’t know you, but one of the traits I find most attractive in a footballer is when I’m comfortable with both feet. Santi Cazorla was Arsenal’s most recent alumni to boast such ability, but Marc Overmars preceded him.
His time in North London was short, but sweet, and his pace terrified English football.
But despite all the talk about him, he is quick and deadly in front of the target etc. etc, it was his ambidextrous that really appealed. That seed of doubt persistent in the defenders’ heads was undoubtedly a factor that scored 12 league goals during his debut season and Arsenal won twice.
Tracing Nicolas Anelka’s time in the game, the extraordinary periods of his career will likely neglect his spell with Arsenal. It was essentially just two seasons, but it made a good impression on arrival, and his departure rather left the impact.
Signed for a paltry £ 500,000, it was the addition par excellence to Wenger: he was a teenager, French and would not have broken the bank.
There was clearly a talent in preparation here, but when Real Madrid came to call with £ 22.3 million in 1999, it was an offer that Marlon Brando could not refuse. Half of that tax was used on Thierry Henry, while the rest was used to build the London Colney training complex. Very well spent money.
As a person growing up in Sweden, I can confirm that every child at school shook his spray-painted red hair practically every day. Yes me too. They loved Freddie Ljungberg over there, almost as much as Arsenal loved him in London.
You can browse Arsenal history books in search of the greatest “big game” player, but this is a recognition that Ljungberg holds alone.
Relying on the fans with a debut goal against Manchester United, everything that followed was destined to a long commitment whose division would always have been friendly.
Even today, Freddie is loved by fans as much as he was in his playing career. If only he could help them win two more Premier League titles and three FA Cups …
Overmars’ successor would never have an easy job; the Dutchman got the fans out of their seats on a weekly basis. How do you match it? Not in the case of Robert Pires, get over it.
For all the magnificent goals scored by Pires and the balance that he offered to the team in those six seasons – in particular 2003/04 – what is remembered most fondly by Gunners fans is his derby record in North London .
In his 11 games against Tottenham he has never ended up losing, scoring nine times and remaining a constant thorn in the back of Spurs.
This alone is worthy of announcing.
Just as Pires can only be included for his derby record, the capture of the Tottenham captain zero pounds is a sufficient justification for Sol Campbell’s place on this list.
There’s also the fact that he’s been England’s best central defender for about three years, and pretty much the epitome of what’s missing at Arsenal right now – but let’s get back to the first point.
Wenger pinching Campbell from under Spurs’ nose was a master stroke. It became part of the “Invincibles”, it cost nothing and cemented the Gunners’ place as the dominant force in North London.
It was fun as long as it lasted.
15 years have passed since Patrick Vieira left Arsenal and the club’s fans are still demanding that he be replaced. This gives you an indication of how irreplaceable it has been.
He took on the captain’s cloak so effectively, despite arriving as a stranger who failed to get a game for Milan. Nobody had heard of it, but everyone knew who he was before leaving.
Balancing the steel with skill, developed with the brain, he was the beating heart of the club during their best years in the Premier League. A true leader if there ever was one, oh how Arsenal craves a player of his quality in the current team.
The greatest Dutchman who ever honored the Premier League, Dennis Bergkamp’s impact on Arsenal still resonates today.
Its introduction has transformed the club’s playing style, from aspiring 1-0 winners to the funniest side to watch in the division. For a man who has never flown, few have slipped on a football pitch like he did.
His elegance and genius would leave their mark on English football as a whole. Although they may no longer be the best football team to watch, Arsenal will certainly strive for this, largely stemming from the era of the club forward.
It has been an integral part of both double win campaigns and will be immortalized forever as a turning point in the club’s main flight fortunes.
Thierry Henry was born with a gift to play football and we were lucky enough to see him hug him.
228 goals in 375 games don’t actually tell half the story. 13 years after leaving North London and every year the list of the best Premier League players ever has its name at the top. No wonder why.
Signed as Juventus winger, Henry turned into a captivating center forward under the leadership of Wenger, combining his pungent rhythm with technical refinement to become the best player that the top flight, and Arsenal, has ever seen. An icon in the world of football.
Va-va-voom indeed.
