Arsenal's Most Curious Signings Ever

Like all clubs, Arsenal have made their fair share of curious signings over the years.

Some have turned out just fine, a few are immortalized as Gunners legends and others…well, at least they looked good on paper.

Bringing a new player on board can often be a gamble, as anyone who adds Luis Suarez to their payroll finds out over time.

However, sometimes you just have to back the right horse and hope it comes in. Which I’m sure is what Arsene Wenger was hoping for when he decided to sign Pascal Cygan in 2002.

Often, players seem like baffling choices before they join the club. Others, they continue to defy logic, seasons after putting pen to paper.

Over the following slides, we look at Arsenal’s 10 most curious signings ever, beginning with the most recent.

From Sebastien Squillaci to Clive Allen and a raft of dodgy No. 18s in-between, one thing links them all—they all seemed like bizarre choices for Arsenal FC.

Read on to see how the Gunners’ gambles paid off….

Park Chu-Young

Monaco to Arsenal—2011—between £3-5 million

Park Chu-Young has been an Arsenal player for two years. Yet if you bumped into him in your nearest supermarket, chances are you wouldn't recognize him.

The South Korean has made just one Premier League appearance for the club since sealing a move in 2011.

Circumstances surrounding his transfer to Arsenal were already a little odd—the striker, having been snatched away from Lille in a last-minute deal, said to have left the Ligue 1 side "furious."

If shirt numbers tell a tale of how far Chu-Young has fallen down the pecking order at the Emirates, after originally being handed the No. 9 shirt, he’s now No. 30 in the squad.

After impressing with AS Monaco and South Korea, it’s bizarre to think that the 28-year-old has been such a fringe player, who was loaned out to Celta Vigo last season

Sebastien Squillaci

Sevilla to Arsenal—2010—£6.5 million

Perhaps it's the curse of the No. 18 shirt that Mikael Silvestre and Pascal Cygan had worn before him.

Or maybe he’s just not that good.

It’s fair to say that Squillaci made a curious addition to the Arsenal squad. The centre-back was known for his defensive mistakes and never inspired much confidence among the Arsenal faithful.

After appearing just 39 times in all competitions during his three years at the club, Squillaci has been one of Arsene Wenger’s biggest flops.

On June 5, the Frenchman was released from the Emirates when his contract ran out. The 32-year-old now plays for Ligue 1 side, Bastia.

Andrey Arshavin

FC Zenit St Petersburg to Arsenal—2009—£15 million

Remember watching Andrey Arshavin at EURO 2008?

He was good.

Really good.

Despite missing Russia’s first two games of the tournament, he was voted Man of the Match against both Sweden and the Netherlands and he saw his side reach the semi-finals.

Arshavin won honours including the Russian Premier League, Super Cup, UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup with Zenit.

Strange then, that he never really reached his potential at Arsenal.

The club’s record signing at the time, the striker cost the club £15 million.

Who would have thought that five years later he would be released from the club for free, after playing just 80 minutes of football for the Gunners during the 2012/13 season.

It’s a case of what might-have-been for the Russian striker’s career in England.

Mikael Silvestre

Manchester United to Arsenal—2008—Undisclosed

He won five Premier League titles with Manchester United, the 2007/08 Champions League, an FA Cup and the League Cup.

On paper, Silvestre looks like a great player.

However, as games aren't actually played on paper, Silvestre didn't make the best addition to Arsene Wenger’s team in 2008.

To be fair to the defender, his best years were already behind him when he signed for Arsenal.

It seemed a strange move at the time, considering the rivalry between Arsenal and Manchester United in the Noughties.

In fact, the Frenchman was the first player to move from Old Trafford to Arsenal since Brian Kidd in 1974.

Silvestre made consistent mistakes in crucial matches against the likes of Barcelona in the Champions League and Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.

He made just 26 top-flight appearances before being shipped off to Werder Bremen in 2010.

Denilson

Sao Paulo to Arsenal—2006—£3.4 million

In summer 2006, Arsenal signed Denilson from Brazilian side Sao Paulo.

The problem was, hardly anyone had ever heard of the then-18-year-old. Even in Brazil.

"We all thought it a bit strange when he went to Arsenal," World Cup-winning Tostao told the Guardian in 2007. "He had played only a few times for his club. He was discreet, he never stood out. I only saw him a couple of times; he was basically a reserve."

So what did Wenger see in the young midfielder? Denilson was the Brazil U-17 captain and was touted as one for the future.

In his first few seasons at the club, he was a first-team regular. However, he found himself falling down the pecking order due to a combination of injuries and the emergence of Jack Wilshere.

Denilson did little to endear himself to the Arsenal support in 2011, when he demanded a move. Quoted in the Daily Mail, he said: "I am so upset. I am a winner and I came here to win trophies but I've been here for five years and won nothing."

After spending two seasons on loan at Sao Paulo, the Brazilian was released by Arsenal in June, Denilson has returned to the Brasileirao permanently, as seen here on the BBC Sport website.

Francis Jeffers

Everton to Arsenal—2001—£8 million

After Francis Jeffers scored 17 goals in 66 appearances for Everton, Arsene Wenger saw something he liked in the young Liverpudlian.

Although, famed for "not seeing" crucial events on the football pitch, we're convinced Wenger hadn't been watching closely enough when he described Jeffers as a "fox in the box" and signed him for £8 million.

Let me say that again, £8 million.

After struggling to recover from an ankle injury and facing competition from Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp, Jeffers went on to play 22 Premier League games for the Gunners and scored just four goals.

He rejoined Everton on loan in 2003. 

Jeffers now plays for Accrington Stanley. Go on, say it. Exactly.

Sol Campbell

Tottenham Hotspur to Arsenal—2001—Free Transfer

It's a huge understatement to say that this was a shock move.

Sol Campbell had spent the previous nine years playing for Spurs before joining their fiercest rivals in 2001.

Stranger still, he didn't cost Arsenal so much as a penny.

Campbell's Spurs contract had expired, which allowed him to move on a Bosman.

The defender surprised everyone with his decision to snub a move to Barcelona or Inter Milan to make the switch across north London.

His move provoked the ire of Spurs fans and it's still seen as one of the most controversial transfers in Premier League history.

Campbell was a big success at Arsenal. In his five years at the club he clocked up just under 200 appearances, winning two Premier League titles and three FA Cups.

Davor Suker

Real Madrid to Arsenal—1999—£3.5 million

Didn't everyone have a bit of a thing for Davor Suker in the Nineties? The star of a Croatia squad featuring the likes of Mario Stanic, Robert Prosinecki and Zvonimir Boban, what wasn't there to love?

Impressive at Euro '96, Suker was a legend at France '98 where his six goals for Croatia saw him win the tournament's Golden Boot.

A bona fide star, the Croatian No. 9 came to Arsenal from Real Madrid. A coup, it seemed, for Arsene Wenger.

What's curious about this signing is that it was Suker, but not as we knew him. It certainly wasn't the one on who’d been on display in France the previous summer. 

But then, that Suker wasn't in direct competition with a 21-year-old, World Cup-winning Thierry Henry and a certain Dennis Bergkamp.

Suker started just eight games for Arsenal and came on as a substitute 24 times, scoring 11 goals in his year at the club.

It was strange and a little sad to see Suker on the bench. Stranger still, he moved to West Ham in 2000.

Thierry Henry

Juventus to Arsenal—1999—£10.5 million.

Dare I say it, Thierry Henry was a curious choice for Arsenal back in 1999.

But Wenger knew something that Henry’s Juventus employers didn't—that the Frenchman should be converted from a winger into a striker.

Henry appeared in just 16 matches for the Old Lady, scoring a total of three goals in all competitions.

When he joined Arsenal, it was a huge gamble. He was leaving the Stadio Delle Alpi as a failure and his £10.5 million price tag seemed slightly expensive at the time.

His first few games for the club did nothing to ease fears that he was going to be a flop. In fact, it took the Frenchman nine games to get off the mark for the Gunners.

"I've literally had to go back to school and be re-taught everything about the art of striking," Henry said at the time.

Flash-forward to 2013, 377 games and 228 Arsenal goals later, and Henry is considered by Arsenal fans to be the club’s best player of all time.

Proof that some curious signings are worth taking a risk for.

Clive Allen

Queens Park Rangers to Arsenal—1980—£1.5 million

It was 1980, Don McLean was Number One in the UK singles charts, a pint of beer cost 60 pence and Clive Allen was English football's first million-pound teenager.

This is one of Arsenal's oddest signings to date.

In 1980, the striker—who is son of ex-Spurs forward Les Allen—came to Highbury from Queens Park Rangers.

Allen signed for £1.5 million, a huge amount of money at the time.

The Londoner trained with Terry Neill's team for two months. He played three preseason friendlies and then promptly signed for Crystal Palace, as part of a swap deal for Kenny Sansom.

Allen lasted just 63 days at Arsenal but went on to enjoy a long career that included spells with Tottenham Hotspur, Bordeaux, Manchester City and West Ham.

Allen was also capped five times by England.

He is famous in recent years for calling Arsene Wenger "two-bob" after an acrimonious touchline spat when Allen was assistant first-team coach at Spurs.