Who has been Arsene Wenger’s greatest signing? There have been some truly world class players who have played for Arsenal since Wenger’s tenure began nearly 17 years ago and a few who most people would rather forget, but there is one player who most Gooners would agree is at the very top.
I first noticed him playing for France in 1998 during the World Cup also held in France. England had disappointingly been knocked out by Argentina in the first knock out round (it was nice to see them get theirs in the next round when Bergkamp scored ‘that’ goal). My interest then switched to France simply because Arsenal had a French coach and Vieira and Petit were playing. This young bloke with his trade mark corner flag celebration finished their top scorer as they deservedly went on to win the tournament. I heard Wenger had discovered him at brought him to AS Monaco several years before so I hoped, like many others that he would join the French revolution at Highbury. Not a chance, he went and joined Juventus so that was that I thought!
The year at Juventus was by all accounts not a very happy one. Forced to play on the wing his game was somewhat stifled and their coach at the time clearly had no idea what he had on his hands and sold him to Arsenal for £11m. Wenger switched him to his favoured forward position and the rest is history. Over the subsequent years he scored an incredible 226 goals for Arsenal winning two EPL titles and three FA cups, not a bad haul. The amount of pleasure he has given me both watching him at Highbury or in the pub on the television is immeasurable! Sometimes the joy of seeing him score against Spurs, Chelsea or Man Utd whilst watching the game in the pub surrounded by fans of those teams was as good as seeing him do it at the game! There was always a grudging admiration for a player they all openly coveted!
In 2007 he transferred to Barcelona leaving behind a legacy that is unlikely to ever be bettered. In the eight years he played for Arsenal he became a legend, he was and is a footballer who mixed grace and power in equal measure. His swiveled volley against Barthez, his solo effort against Spurs in 2002, his goal against Liverpool in 2004, his four goals against Leeds, its hard to pick the best. This is why he was immortalized with a statue outside the Emirates in December last year, a fitting tribute to the most magnificent player to wear the Arsenal shirt, oh how we missed him.
What if he came back? What if he spent a few weeks back at the club that made him to ‘help out’ during a season that was again teetering on the brink of disaster! Would it be a bad idea to go back after four years away and would it tarnish his legacy if he made a few cameo appearances that were largely pointless as you could no longer cut it at the very top? Some people thought it would be!
Well he did come back and he goes back to New York this week. In the time he came on the pitch against Leeds Utd and scored the winner in the FA cup, he scored the 7th and final goal against Blackburn in the league and his final touch of the ball was to score the winner against Sunderland, securing three of the most vital points we will ever need!
Is it possible to improve on excellence? Just ask Thierry!
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