Arsenal’s 10 Worst Signings Ever Under Arsene Wenger
by Josh Sippie
9. Gervinho
Gervinho is often forgotten on other Arsene Wenger’s worst signings list ever, but I am not sure how. While he did not cost as much as Andrei Arshavin, his colossal downfall was just as colossal.
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Brought over from Lille for 10.8 million pounds, Gervinho first appeared in a preseason friendly against Cologne. He put up a brace in 15 minutes and immediately, it appeared that Arsene Wenger had struck gold again.
At least the Ivorian did not wait long to prove us wrong. In his Premier League debut he slapped Joey Barton, was sent off, and despite contributing to goals off and on, never hit the heights that were expected. He had the beautiful technical ability to dribble around quite literally anyone but when it came to getting around the goal keeper, it was an entirely different story.
More recently, Gervinho hit out at Arsenal, saying he hated them and stating how happy he was that he was able to fully showcase at Roma.
He finished with 9 goals in 46 games for the Gunners.
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<p>Even the ever vigilant Arsene Wenger makes some mistakes from time to time. However, it may be the failures that have caused him to become so stingy in the transfer market. Picking out the perfect player is not an option for him, it is an absolute necessity.</p>
<p>To an extent, the bad signings really have dwindled the longer Wenger has been at the club and the longer he has had to understand the club and its surrounding culture, but that does not mean that his most recent blunders are excluded from this list.</p>
<p>So how did we judge what made a signing any worse than another? Well, several factors went into it. First of all, the cost is a major factor. There is nothing quite like breaking a club record transfer fee for a guy that falls flat on his face. However, you will not find any terrible signings on this list that were free. Take Amaury Brischoff for example. He was free. His injuries hindered him and he produced just 26 minutes of actual EPL play time before being released.</p>
<p>But what did Arsenal really lose? Nothing.</p>
<p>This is a list for the people that an educated individual like Arsene Wenger actually spent money on. Guys who flopped, floundered and dismantled their professional careers while wearing the pride of North London on their back.</p>
<p>Another contributing factor is time spent on the team. Failing for six months and failing for nine years are two completely different levels of failure.</p>
<p>And so, without further ado, let’s get started at the back with the 10 most awful signing of the Wenger era.</p>
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<p>After departing Monaco, Arsene Wenger spent some time coaching in Japan, much to the surprise of everyone that knew Le Prof’s qualities, but Wenger did very well for himself on the island nation, learning about the game, seeing it from a different angle and picking up another language in the process.<div class="related-category right">
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<p>However, he may also have picked up a favoritism for players of Asian heritage. Unfortunately, no such signings have ever worked out for Wenger. Ryo Miyaichi is the latest of the bunch, but Junichi Inamoto was the first.</p>
<p>Despite selling a massive amount of shirts and becoming a cult sensation, Inamot0 never amounted to anything at the club. He made only four appearances for Arsenal, not a single one coming in the Premier League, and departed after a stellar 2002 World Cup.</p>
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<p>Gervinho is often forgotten on other Arsene Wenger’s worst signings list ever, but I am not sure how. While he did not cost as much as Andrei Arshavin, his colossal downfall was just as colossal.<div class="recent-posts ">
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<p>Brought over from Lille for 10.8 million pounds, Gervinho first appeared in a preseason friendly against Cologne. He <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2015/12/25/top-10-worst-arsenal-signings-under-arsene-wenger/3/"http://www.arsenal.com/match-menu/3405570/first-team/fc-cologne-v-arsenal?tab=report%22>put up a brace in 15 minutes</a> and immediately, it appeared that Arsene Wenger had struck gold again.</p>
<p>At least the Ivorian did not wait long to prove us wrong. In his Premier League debut he slapped Joey Barton, was sent off, and despite contributing to goals off and on, never hit the heights that were expected. He had the beautiful technical ability to dribble around quite literally anyone but when it came to getting around the goal keeper, it was an entirely different story.</p>
<p>More recently, Gervinho hit out at Arsenal, <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2015/12/25/top-10-worst-arsenal-signings-under-arsene-wenger/3/"http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/546628/Gervinho-I-HATE-Arsenal-and-Arsene-Wenger">saying he hated them and stating how happy he was that he was able to fully showcase at Roma.</p>
<p>He finished with 9 goals in 46 games for the Gunners.</p>
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<p>Lord Bendtner may be one of the few players to establish a cult following at his club for how ineffective he was at that club. That is a feat in and of itself.<div class="recent-posts ">
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<p>Bendtner was a Wenger youth signing gone wrong. He may not have cost a lot of money, but the hype was immense and the product was nonexistent. The hulking Dane scored 24 goals in 108 appearances for the Gunners in a vast nine year career with the club.</p>
<p>That right there is what made him such a flop. Nine years with a club before finally moving on. Of course, the situation itself was a bit sticky, as Bendtner was essentially frozen out, but still – nine years. He made only 27 appearances across his last three years as it became increasingly obvious that this was not a match that was meant to happen.</p>
<p>As a happy ending, Bendtner was given a reception to please royalty when he returned to the Emirates with his new side, Wolfsburg.</p>
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<p>With the building of the new Emirates Stadium, Arsenal entered an era where money was rather elusive. As such, signings had to be thrifty, wise and to be honest, a stretch at times.</p>
<p>Mikael Silvestre was a stretch. He had been present for many of Manchester United’s honors in the late 90s and at the age of 31, in 2008, he brought his talents to North London.</p><div class="widget fs_ads"> <div class="fs_ad_widget-ad" style="margin:0 auto; width: 300px;"> <div class="fs-ll-ad" data-ad-type="minutemedia_slideshow_inline_300x250__desktop__tablet" data-vendor="minutemedia">
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<p>The problem was that most of his talents had gone, found a wife, settled down and had kids, leaving Mikael Silvestre absolutely hapless in defense. United had parted ways with him for a reason and it was Arsenal who played the dog going after the table scraps.</p>
<p>To make matters even worse, Sylvestre decided to <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2015/12/25/top-10-worst-arsenal-signings-under-arsene-wenger/3/"http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/494026/Arsenal-made-a-MISTAKE-by-signing-Alexis-Sanchez-Mikael-Silvestre">weigh in</a> on Arsenal’s signing of Alexis Sanchez. Brace yourself for this quote: “I do not think he is the type of player the club need right now. Arsenal have already got that type of player – quick, sharp, fast – they have enough of them already in Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla.”</p>
<p>Of the four players Silvestre listed, not a single one is like Alexis. But lets move on.</p>
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<p>The scary thing about Park Chu-young was that, believe it or not, he was only released last year.<div class="recent-posts ">
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<p>The Korean arrived at Arsenal with more question marks than the Riddler’s suit coat and he left with just as many. Wearing the No. 9 shirt has never meant to Arsenal what it means to other clubs and Chu-young is the poster child of that sentiment.</p>
<p>He may have scored early in his Arsenal career at the Carling Cup but in terms of Premier League success, the Korean only grabbed one career appearance. It is hard to call it a disappearing act when he never managed to appear in the first place.</p>
<p>Chalk it up as another player of Asian heritage that never fit the bill at the Emirates.</p>
<div class="next-post amp-get-next-post lg slider"><a class="location" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-post-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2015/12/25/top-10-worst-arsenal-signings-under-arsene-wenger/3/"#"><span class="next amp-next-post-teaser">Next: </span><span class="amp-get-next-post">Number 5</span></a></div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><h3 style="font-size:34px;">5. Andrei Arshavin</h3>
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<p>You will find Arshavin topping most of Arsene Wenger’s worst signings lists but I have a hard time doing that. Sure, he cost a club record 15 million pounds and he never delivered on that by a long shot, that is why he is on this list. But being placed on the left wing when he was a striker did the Russian no favors and to his credit, he did not do that bad out there.</p>
<p>Through his first 106 appearances, before he fell out of favor, Arshavin put up 28 goals and 33 assists. Not great numbers, but not abysmal, particularly for a left winger.</p>
<p>The only thing against Arshavin is the massive price tag paid for him. Had he cost a third of the price he would be seen as a great signing. But he didn’t. So he isn’t.</p>
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<p>Francis Jeffers arrived at Arsenal for 8 million pounds in 2001, making him a rather expensive product. Jeffers was acquired as Arsenal needed a “fox in the box” so as to score more goals and keep pace with United’s torrid pace in the Prem.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for Jeffers, that never really materialized. Injuries absolutely demolished his career. While he won plenty at Arsenal, he was rarely a part of any of it and after just 22 Premier League appearances and a measly four goals, he sought greener pastures elsewhere.</p>
<p>What makes Jeffers so tragic is a combination of his price, his lack of contribution, and the fact that Arsenal won so much without him.</p>
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<p>The picture says it all. <div class="recent-posts ">
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<p>No defender on your own club should strike fear in your own supporters’ hearts, but that is precisely what Squillaci did. While Per Mertesacker may lack pace, he makes up for it with his intelligence and positioning. While Squillaci may lack pace, he did not make up for it with anything.</p>
<p>Another victim of the dead money era at Arsenal when nothing good was affordable, Squillaci was bought to try to make something from nothing. It failed. Towards the end of it all, the center back kept his plush paycheck to remain at Arsenal rather than accept less wages to go another team that he may actually be able to play for.</p>
<p>Squillaci made defensive errors an art and it really is remarkable that he could ever have been deemed appropriate for Arsenal’s needs.</p>
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<p>Youth products are a specialty of Arsene Wenger and Arsenal, but even he is bound to get them wrong from time to time. Recently, Ryo Miyaichi and Thomas Eisfield come to mind, but the man that did the fail bigger than everyone else was Brazilian defensive midfielder Denilson.</p>
<p>When you buy a youth product, aged 18 years old, for 3.4 million pounds, he better be good. That is not cheap. Arsene Wenger <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2015/12/25/top-10-worst-arsenal-signings-under-arsene-wenger/3/"http://web.archive.org/web/20061105003135/http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?thisNav=news&article=422344&lid=NewsHeadline&Title=Denilson+in+18-man+squad+for+trip+to+Moscow%22>reckoned that this wonderkid was a mix between Tomas Rosicky and Gilberto. How could he be more wrong?</p><div class="widget fs_ads"> <div class="fs_ad_widget-ad" style="margin:0 auto; width: 300px;"> <div class="fs-ll-ad" data-ad-type="minutemedia_slideshow_inline_300x250__desktop__tablet" data-vendor="minutemedia">
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<p>Denilson lacked any semblance of defensive ability and he contributed very little to the attack. In seven years he failed to make an impact and eventually he was seen off by the emergence of Jack Wilshere.</p>
<p>Thank you, Jack.</p>
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<p>I cannot help but laugh when I hear this name. The one memory that will never disappear is seeing Andre Santos swapping shirts with Arsenal goat Robin van Persie… at half time. It was one of the most embarrassing moments ever to be seen on national television.<div class="recent-posts ">
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<p>Santos was brought on as another budget signing and as had been the trend, he failed miserably. The wing back was supposed to be everything wonderful but for 6 million pounds, Arsene Wenger would have been better off buying six million one pound packs of bubblegum for six million lucky contest winners across the globe. It would have made more sense.</p>
<p>The Brazilian left back’s career was full of disappointments and his two year stint at Arsenal was just one of the many.</p>
<p>There is no back line that strikes more fear into the heart of supporters than a back line that is 25% Squillaci, 25% Andre Santos and 50% nothing can cover for that.</p>
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