The worst Arsenal transfers of the 21st century
In the winter transfer window, Arsenal finally managed to get rid of Ozil’s huge contract by letting him go to Fenerbahce for free. Undoubtedly, zero pounds is a significant financial loss when you remember that the Turkish German came from Real Madrid for 42 million. Nevertheless, 60 assists and 33 goals scored in 184 games is not a bad result, and if you remember Mesut’s game under Arsene Wenger, then the purchase of the midfielder cannot be a failure. It’s quite another matter with those we’ll talk about today. With Telecomasia.net we will remember the transfers that the Gunners fans will probably want to forget.
Gervinho. 2011-2013. €12 million
The Ivorian, with Eden Hazard, led Lille to victory in Ligue 1 in 2011 and has attracted interest from many European sides. Arsene Wenger was not going to stay away and was choosing between him and the Belgian. Gervinho ended up at Arsenal and Chelsea welcomed Hazard a year later.
It is not difficult to see which of the London clubs made the right choice. In two seasons at Arsenal, the winger played 63 games, providing 12 assists and scoring 11 goals, before coming to Roma for €8 million in 2013. Rare glimpses of bright play and a relatively small financial loss somewhat mitigate the negative impact of this purchase.
Sebastien Squillaci. 2010-2013. €4 million
Arsene Wenger has often been unlucky in buying defenders, and Squillaci, coming for €4 million from Sevilla in 2010, is proof of that. Although the Frenchman was a nominal central defender, his defensive skills left much to be desired. The player could not boast aerial tackling or tackling skills. His frequent mistakes in defence were a waste of an already weak Arsenal side. And the pairing of Squillaci-Djourou in the centre of defence will probably give the Gunners fans nightmares for a long time to come.
Arsenal got rid of Squillaci only at the end of the 2012/13 season, along with Arshavin and Denilson, who would also have looked great in this list.
Eduardo da Silva. 2007-2010. €13.5 million
The signing of a Brazilian-born Croatian cannot be called a mistake of Arsenal’s selection department. It’s the price of an accident, but one so frustrating that Eduardo made our list. By 2007, Da Silva was a top scorer at Dinamo Zagreb and was Croatia’s national team leader. The quality striker came in useful to Arsenal, who paid a whopping €13.5 million for Croatian. Having quickly adapted to England, the forward had already started to reach his level, but in February 2008, the worst day for the player happened.
After Martin Taylor’s terrible tackle, Eduardo missed the next season and no longer showed his best performance. Leading British osteopathic physician Tim Allardyce said that only the competent work of doctors saved the foot of the footballer. In February 2009, Eduardo entered the field in the game against Cardiff and even scored a brace, but due to another injury, he could not finish the match. The injury plagued the Brazilian until 2010 when Wenger decided to sell the faded star to Shakhtar for €7.2 million.
Andre Santos. 2011-2013. €7 million
Arsenal bought Santos at the very end of the transfer window in 2011 from the Turkish side Fenerbahce for €7 million. The Brazilian defender was expected to cover a problematic position on the left wing of defence, but it turned out that he was fundamentally unwilling to work at the back. Often, the player would get caught up and lose the ball on the attack and the other players would have to do his work as he slowly returned to his own half.
The last straw for fans and management was the episode in the game against Manchester United when Santos asked Robin van Persie to switch shirts at half-time. At the time, Arsenal were losing 0-1 and the Dutchman scored the only goal. After receiving a scolding from Wenger, the Brazilian later apologised to his teammates and fans but could no longer restore his confidence. The defender was loaned out to Gremio before signing for Flamengo.
Francis Jeffers. 2001-2004. €15.3 million
In the late 1990s, Jeffers was one of English football’s great hopes. Already 16, the forward, who had been predicted to be the future of Michael Owen, made his Everton debut against Man Utd at Old Trafford. In three seasons in the main team, he played 49 games and scored 18 goals. However, the forward then became stellar and refused to renew his contract with the Toffees, for which he was criticised by the fans.
In 2001, Everton sold the player to Arsenal, where he was immediately plagued by injury. He played only six games in the season, leaving him without the Premier League gold medal. In total, the striker played just 20 games for Arsenal in the Premier League, scoring 4 times, before being sold to Charlton for €3.9 million, with Arsene still hesitant to pay big money for players.
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