Ranking Arsene Wenger's 10 Best Finds

Arsene Wenger's finest attribute as a manager has been his uncanny ability to identify and develop raw talent.  The Gunners boss has found plenty of unknowns and helped turn them into world class players.

Players have been plucked from obscurity and arrived in North London with little or no fan fare, only to become some of the most instantly recognisable and exciting players in the history of the game.

Here is a list of the 10 best finds during Wenger's glorious reign.

Aaron Ramsey and Others Who Didn't Make the List

Creative midfield ace Aaron Ramsey was denied a place on this list only due to the fact that his reputation as a prodigious talent was already established when Arsenal made their move.

Ramsey had performed well for Cardiff, and the Gunners had to fend off the interest of Manchester United to land the highly rated Welsh youngster.

Theo Walcott had a similar reputation and commanded a large fee, therefore the England speedster is less of a find.

Walcott has also failed to be consistent enough to be deemed a complete success, during his near six-year stint with the club.

Emmanuel Petit is also denied a spot on this list.  Petit performed admirably for the Gunners after being converted from central defender to holding midfielder.

But the Frenchman's peak was short lived and unlike others on the list, Petit's star faded rapidly after he left Arsenal.

Temperamental Togloese frontman Emmanuel Adebayor also failed to make the final cut.  A supremely talented player who blossomed under the tutelage of Wenger, Adebayor hasn't managed to reach the same heights he achieved with the Gunners.

10. Alex Song

This author has been critical of Song, but it's hard not to admire the progression of a player who was once commonly regarded as a flop by most fans.

Song arrived from French minnows Bastia for the modest sum of £1 million in the summer of 2005. The young Cameroon prodigy struggled initially and ended the 2006/07 season on loan at Charlton Athletic.

After the departure of Mathieu Flamini in the summer of 2008, Song was thrust into regular first team participation.

He struggled early on and was frequently derided for his uncertain performances and lack of technique. But Song has rebounded well and in the last three seasons has slowly matured into one of the most respected young midfielders in world football.

Still raw and wild on occasion, he has improved his positional sense and tackling. Song makes this list because he continues to show improvement this season.

His overall game is more refined and Song is now as effective in the attacking third, as he is in defensive areas.

9. Kolo Toure

He may have fallen spectacularly from grace during the last few years, but for four seasons in the middle of the last decade, Kolo Toure was as fine a central defender as any in world football.

Not a bad achievement for a player who was initially offered a trial with the Gunners as a central midfielder.  Toure's conversion to central defense was a typical Wenger masterstroke.

The Ivorian's pace and anticipation, alongside the power and determination of the superb Sol Campbell, was the catalyst for the unbeaten league campaign of 2003/04.

Two seasons later, Toure was the senior figure in a makeshift back four that proved the stingiest in Europe and took Arsenal all the way to their only European Cup final appearance.

A fully committed player, Toure deserves to be remembered fondly by Gunners fans.  To this day, this author wishes that William Gallas had been shown the door instead of the enthusiastic Ivorian.

Wenger parted with a mere £150,000 to sign Toure from Ivory Coast regional side Asec Mimosas.  A pittance for a player who quickly became one of the best at his position.

8. Wojciech Szczesny

If there is a better young goalkeeper in world football than brash, young Pole Wojciech Szczesny, then Arsenal fans would probably love to meet him.

Szczesny used a hugely successful loan spell with League 1 side Brentford, to bring himself to the attention of the Arsenal boss.

Wenger can be criticised for having wasted too much time with Manuel Almunia and Lukasz Fabianski when Szczesny was already on the books.

But the Gunners manager should also be credited for recognising Szczesny's immense talent and keeping him in the side.

Snaffled from Legia Warsaw at the tender age of 16, Szczesny has firmly established himelf as Arsenal's number one and is well on his way to becoming the Premier League's best.

7. Jack Wilshere

It is always curious and slightly disgusting to hear somebody complain that Wenger does not play English players and isn't interested in developing English talent.

Well Arsenal fans, the next time somebody uses this disturbing argument, instead of greeting them with the customary curled lip and nauseated expression, simply reply with the name Jack Wilshere.

The most promising young talent in English football emerged from the youth ranks and was quickly given a chance by Wenger.

In another unnecessary slap in the face of Wenger, Bolton Wanderers manager Owen Coyle is often mistakenly give the lion's share of the credit for the rapid rise of Wilshere.

But the prodigious youngster learned his trade at Arsenal and Wenger granted him his Premier League debut in early September 2008, as a substitute during a 4-0 win away to Blackburn Rovers.

Yet another injury to Abou Diaby put Wilshere into the first team ahead of time in 2010, but Wenger quickly realised that the England youth needed to be an ever present fixture in the lineup.

A long-term injury has robbed Arsenal fans of seeing what the PFA Young Player of the Year would be capable off now that he is free from the considerable shadow of Cesc Fabregas.

But with Wenger continuing to encourage his current star pupil, expect Wilshere to go from strength to strength once he returns to the team.

6. Nicolas Anelka

French teen sensation Nicolas Anelka arrived in North London at the age of 17, for the modest sum of £500,000.  Not much was expected from Anelka in the beginning.

His role in the team was occupied by free scoring Gunners legend Ian Wright, and Anelka was quiet for his first few months.

An injury to Wright forced Anelka into the limelight and the unknown prospect soon took the Premier League by storm.

Anelka formed a lethal partnership with the great Dennis Bergkamp.  The Dutch master could always spot Anelka's runs and had the ability to lay on the perfect through pass.

Anelka's blistering pace, deceptive strength and cool finishing tore through defenses in the 1997/98 season and propelled Arsenal to a magnificent league and FA Cup double.

Sadly, periods of torpor and inconsistency soon spelled the end of Anelka's Arsenal career.  He was sold in the summer of 1999 to Real Madrid for £23.5 million pounds.

The huge profit represented one of the best pieces of business in the history of football.  Wenger used the proceeds to construct a state of the art training facility and to help build his greatest ever Arsenal team.

5. Ashley Cole

Another retort to the pitiful argument that Wenger doesn't develop English players, is the fact that the country's finest left back in decades came to prominence under the stewardship of the Gunners boss.

After being deployed as a striker in the youth teams, Ashley Cole broke into the Arsenal first team at the start of the last decade.

Following the passport debacle that had cost Arsenal the services of the cultured Brazilian, Silvinho, Cole was thrust into the starting left back berth.

Thankfully, he made quick strides.  Cole was an instant threat going forward.  He was pacy and dynamic but most importantly, Cole was intelligent with his distribution of the ball.

His early problems came in defensive errors.  Cole survived being one of the chief culprits in Arsenal's 6-1 shellacking at the hands of Manchester United in February 2001.

The young England international became a more assertive and willing defender.  Cole also perfected the use of dangerous runs from the full back position.

He would regularly take up dangerous space in the box and was an excellent finisher, producing some fine goals and becoming one of the major threats in Arsenal's attacking play.

Cole's cocky attitude and his acrimonious split from the club has probably forever soured his memory in the minds of Arsenal fans.

Still, it's hard not to look back with some fondness to the days when Cole was one of the most exciting full backs the game has ever seen.

4. Robin Van Persie

The current finest centre forward in world football arrived in North London in the summer of 2004.  Robin van Persie signed from Feyenoord for an absolute bargain price at £2.3 million.

Van Persie came with a reputation as a promising, but rebellious youngster, known for a fractious attitude and inconsistent performances.

Wenger quickly molded this temperamental winger into a central attacker.  The Dutchman's first season was a huge success.

He scored crucial goals in the club's triumphant FA Cup run, bagging a superb brace to beat Blackburn Rovers in the semifinal.

The next couple of seasons saw van Persie try to emulate the deep-lying forward role held for so long by Bergkamp.

Van Persie produced many memorable moments, including plenty of spectacular goals and assists.  But injuries constantly interrupted his progress and threatened to derail his career.

The 2008/09 season was the campaign where van Persie's evolution into the world class performer he is today, began to take shape.

Van Persie was Arsenal's best player that season.  Health-wise it stands as his best year in an Arsenal shirt.  He finished the season with 20 goals and was just as potent as a creative force.

The four goals he laid on away to Newcastle United and Hull City, showcased van Persie's complete talents and he was redefining the expectations for a striker.

This season van Persie is currently on the scoring run of his life.  As he demonstrated against West Brom, he is still a smart and dangerous provider as well.

Wenger has developed the complete central striker and his efforts with van Persie are rapidly changing the way people perceive the position.

3. Cesc Fabregas

It only cost Arsenal a fee in the region of £700,000 to land Spanish starlet Cesc Fabregas in the summer of 2003.

Under Wenger's tutelage, the 16-year-old Catalan prodigy matured into the finest creative midfielder on the planet.

After some successful Carling Cup outings in the 2003/04 season, Fabregas shot to fame when he stepped in for the injured Gilberto Silva, in Arsenal's first league game of the 2004/05 season, away to Everton.

His class was immediately obvious.  After just one season Wenger realised that he needed to modify his team's style of play and run the game through Fabregas.

Gradually, Fabregas added goal scoring to his neat and cerebral passing.  Eventually, Wenger designed a tactical structure to free Fabregas and put him in a position to do the most damage.

There have been few Arsenal players who could match the cultured technique and creative flair of Fabregas.

2. Patrick Vieira

Arguably the greatest player that Arsene Wenger has ever produced, midfield colossus Patrick Vieira was a stalwart of perhaps the finest club side the English game has ever seen.

Vieira captained the 'Invincibles' in 2003/04 and was the driving force behind most of their stunning, attacking play.

Having wowed Wenger when the then Monaco boss saw him play for Cannes, Vieira went to AC Milan and floundered badly.

He arrived in North London after Wenger parted ways with the tiny fee of £3.5 million, in the autumn of 1996.  Vieira's class was immediately evident, but his overall game was still raw.

Wenger worked closely with Vieira to refine his technique and awareness and quickly saw his star pupil become one of the greatest all-round midfielders of all time.

Vieira was the perfect blend of strength and flair.  Tenacious in the tackle, he also possessed a keen creative awareness.

Often wrongly labelled as a defensive midfielder, Vieira was in fact at his best when striding forward powerfully to lead a quick Arsenal break.

The Gunners were always strongest when Vieira was partnered with a more stay at home, disciplined player, like Emmanuel Petit or Gilberto Silva.

This allowed the long striding Frenchman to operate all over the pitch and knit Arsenal's intricate attacking play together with his accurate and intelligent distribution.

Arsenal fans may hate to admit it, but it's no coincidence that the trophies stopped coming, once Vieira departed to Italy in the summer of 2005.

1. Thierry Henry

Despite an already established reputation as a talented French international, Thierry Henry counts as a find by Arsene Wenger.

It was the Gunners boss who first brought Henry through as a 17-year-old prospect, when both men were at Monaco.

Following a disastrous spell with Juventus, Henry was signed as the replacement for Nicolas Anelka. Few were impressed by the signing, given Henry's reputation for poor finishing and inconsistency.

Eyebrows were raised at Wenger's confident assertion that Henry could master the transition from winger and become a big success as a striker.

The pressure only intensified when Henry failed to find the net in his first few games at his new position.  But Wenger kept faith in the speedy French youngster.

Once the goals came, they never stopped.  Wenger cultivated Henry into the template for the modern striker.

His phenomenal pace was always a threat, but the true keys to Henry's success were the timing of his runs and his immaculate control.

By 2001/02 Henry had become genuinely feared throughout the game.  He fired Arsenal to a second double under Wenger, that may have been an even better achievement than the first.

In 2003/04, Henry was a complete player.  He scored 30 goals, but also provided numerous assists.  He had become the attacking fulcrum of Wenger's grand design.

Henry finished his Arsenal career with a phenomenal total of 226 goals and set the standard for the type of roving centre forward proliferating today's game.

Arsene Wenger has developed and produced many wonderful talents.  With the intelligent and thoughtful Frenchman at the helm, Gunners fans should be very excited for the prospects of players like Ryo Miyaichi, Emmanuel Frimpong and Francis Coquelin.