Three Most Exciting Signings in Arsenal’s History

TotalArsenal

“Eight more days, until our boys will play again“

Misquoting the great Ray LaMontagne is not something I do lightly, however the anguished longing he conveys in his voice and lyrics captures my mood as I settle into the lull between games. A lengthier lull than is the norm at this stage of a season.

Here’s four things to help the time slip away…

I watched “The greatest night in pop” last night and was struck with the sheer determination and forensic commitment displayed by Quincy Jones and Lionel Richie to make the project happen. That collection of voices may never again be gathered in one room this side of Heaven.

Consider the three transfers in Arsenal history that have most excited you at the time of signing. For me…

1. Alan Ball. 26 years old, at the peak of his powers, a World Cup winner, part of the magnificent Everton midfield triumvirate of Kendal, Ball and Harvey, white booted, red headed, fiery and, latterly a magnificent speech maker. We had just won the double under Bertie Mee and when my six week old copy of Shoot Magazine landed in our Tauranga newsagent announcing his signing for a record 220k quid I pedalled home furiously to call my mates with the news. https://youtu.be/wDHNHJ_gPqs

2. Tomas Rosicky. Having lived in the Czech Republic for three and a half years, I was familiar with the rising reputation of “The little Mozart” first at Sparta then at Dortmund. He loved Arsenal and he made music in our midfield… :https://youtu.be/8vKsXrwoGdo

3. Sol Campbell. Sulzeer Jeremiah Campbell, just his name does it for me. But that unveiling, O that unveiling… https://youtu.be/R4CrPsI0rxw

Watch this greatest Football after dinner speech in history. I’ve posted it before but it is so raw, funny and brilliant. https://youtu.be/l-3nGYY9gro

Watch the first half of the Newcastle game on loop until 8pm Monday March 4th rolls about.

Bring on the Blades.

By Stu

58 thoughts on “Three Most Exciting Signings in Arsenal’s History”

  • TA, jjust realised there is a “New Post”, so bringing forward my late entry in the last thread…..

    GN5, thanks for the report. Nice going Kev; the only correct score prediction too. Well, bring it on! 💪.

    On another note, GN5, I could have sworn I had 4 correct predictions…..

  • Fine post to take us through the lull, until we get to play again, Stuart. I was thrilled no end at Sol Campbell’s announcement. He was arguably the best centre back in England at the time; then the icing on the cake – stole him right under the noses of the Spuds as they thought he was off to a European club. Arsene Wenger, you wily old fox you.

    The other two exciting signings, for me, were Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil. I saw Alexis doing bits for Udenese in the Italian league and was struck by his tenacity. Always thought how much he would thrive in the EPL for his power and dribbling. So, my excitement knew no bounds when he joined us.

    Mesut Ozil was one I saw win the world cup for Germany playing for us and always admired his vision and ability to pick a pass. He could drop the ball on a sixpence and it was no surprise how prolific Karim Benzema became, combining with Ozil. When he joined us in 2013, as the most expensive German player ever at the time, I remember thinking we could win the league again. However, he was only able to win us three FA cups, ending our 9 years trophy drought, recording the second most assists ever (19) in an EPL season. Between Santi Cazorla, Sanchez, Giroud, Jack, Ramsey and Ozil, we did get to see some tantalising attacking play by our team.

  • Great signings, Eris. Thanks for sharing. Alexis and Mesut were at the top of their game when we got them. Alexis must be the greatest Chilean to play the game, tho’ Zamorano would run him close. And Mesut could be an absolute darling. I loved his dink into the ground and over the keeper trick when he was played in one on one. As far as I know, that was his innovation.

  • It took a while till observers realised it was an actual technique rather than a mis-kick. In his pomp, Ozil was amazing.

  • Great post Stu.

    Yes I remember the Alan Ball signing and Peter Marinello made a bit of a stir as well.

    Alan Hudson excited me, I had been at Wembley when Hudson and Alan Ball took the all-conquering West Germany to the cleaners, Hudson wax also doing great things at Stoke City when we signed him but it just didn’t work.

    Dennis Bergkamp was an amazing signing, a truly world class signing for a club that only a few years earlier was bringing in the likes of Chris Kiwomya and Lee Chapman.

    That signing and the arrival of David Platt announced the influence of David Dein and the club recovering its world class status after years of stagnation under the Hill-Woods and Bracewell-Smiths.

    The third is clearly Sol Campbell, Tottenham fans of a certain generation will never fully recover from his move to Arsenal.

    it was delicious…

  • Eris if you scroll back on the last post you will see your predictions – and you have three correct.

  • Kev, I’ve never seen that game, but will watch it tonight. Bally was captain and it was Hudson’s first cap. What a front line: Channon, MacDonald & Keegan! And, who were those two fullbacks? Gillard rings a faint bell, but Whitworth? I remember better the ’72 game when Gunter Netzer ran the show. What a player he was. Alan Hudson, like Netzer, was one of those enigma’s. When he turned it on he was untouchable. His best years were at Chelsea & Stoke, but we saw glimpses at Highbury.

    DB10 is, for me our greatest ever signing. I was in India working at the time so knew nothing about it until I got back to London. Bruce Rioch’s greatest moment for Arsenal?

  • Stu:

    Gillard played for QPR and Whitworth played for Leicester City.

    I was also at Wembley when Netzer destroyed England, my physics teacher used to get tickets for us from Wembley and a lot of us went to Internationals at the time.
    We pretty much all stopped going when Sir Alf Ramsey got the sack and Don Revie got the job instead of Brian Clough.

  • Yes Kev, once I saw the faces I remembered the two players. My weekly ‘Shoot’ magazine contained more photos than text. Made for good wall paper in my bedroom. I’m watching the game now, fast and furious, (a lot of 70’s tackling) England dominating with Colin Bell putting in a good stint alongside Hudson and Ball (that has a ring to it). The great Brian Moore on commentary with Sir Alf doing co commentary. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGCuwXDClBg

  • Fine post, Stu.

    Agreed with all those key signings others have mentioned. Excitement they all brought indeed. Would be good to do a follow up post on signings that did not excite but turned out to be superb business.

    Quick additional three from me:

    1. Henry. Housemate in Utrecht had spoken to Dein and Wenger directly about the loss of Anelka that summer, and Wenger had said that he believed he had a great replacement in Thierry.
    2. Reyes.Arsenal were at the top and then Wenger got this Spanish wizard. It was almost indulgence, but this boy brought additional electricity to the club.
    3. Arteta as manager. We were down and low and needed a savior. Mikel was going to put everything he had into it, and look where we are now in just a few years.

  • Can’t argue with those three, Total.

    Really enjoyed that game, Kev. Germany poor other than Bertie Vogts and the imperious Beckenbauer. Couldn’t quite believe the Kaisers hand ball incident.

  • The club has sure had many exciting signings who lived up to the hype. Going with TA’s line of thought, I have three who didn’t have much buzz (at least, not for me) when they were signed but turned out good signings: Patrick Vieira, Kolo Toure and Alexander Hleb (not sure many had heard of him before he joined, but that boy made a ball stick to his feet like he had magnets in both legs).

  • GN5, I took another look and am now certain I had 4 correct predictions. I guess the way I presented the Chelsea v Liverpool prediction may be responsible for your recording. This is what I predicted, for that game:

    Here are the 4 predictions I thought I got right:

    Crystal Palace v Burnley * H 2-0

    Bournemouth v Man City * A 1-3

    Arsenal v Newcastle * H 3-1

    Chelsea v Liverpool * (EFL Cup Final) Liverpool Win in extra time 2-1

    I had the Liverpool score prediction (2) coming before that of Chelsea (1), but it was a final where Home or Away didn’t feature. If the rule will be applied strictly, then that’s okay; no sweat. 👍🏽

  • Brentford v Chelsea * H (2-1)

    Everton v West Ham United * D (1-1)

    Fulham vvBrighton & Hove Albion * A (3-1)

    Newcastle v Wolverhampton * H (2-0)

    Manchester C v Manchester U * H (3-0)

    Arsenal Ladies v Tottenham Ladies * H (3-1)

  • Thanks GN5. Eris’s cause looks righteous. But if he ends up winning the comp by one point, I may retract that judgement. 😇

    Brentford v Chelsea 1-1

    Everton v West Ham United 1-1

    Fulham v Brighton & Hove Albion 1-1

    Newcastle v Wolverhampton 2-0

    Manchester C v Manchester U 2-0

    Arsenal Ladies v Tottenham Ladies 2-0

  • Hi, GN5, hope your treatment is going well and that you are not too tired. Thank you for running the competition in these difficult circumstances. Please shout if you need anything from us. 😍

  • At this time total, I’m having an adverse reaction to the treatment – but it’s early days so I will have to persevere. Fortunately I have and appointment with my Oncologist today.

  • All the best for that appointment, GN5. We are making sure your name is echoing around the Halls of Heaven…

  • Brentford vs Chelsea……….2-1

    Everton vs West Ham………2-0

    Fulham vs Brighton & H…..2-1

    Newcastle vs Wolves..…….3-1

    Man City vs Man Utd..…….4-1

    Arsenal vs Tottenham L….4-2

  • GN5, why don’t you forget about the competition this season, focus on your health mate. Stay strong Gooner.

  • Total, those are such kind words from you to GN5. Stuart and Kev, so sweet from you guys too. GN5, here’s wishing you all the best with your treatment.

    While I know doing the competition and keeping the records will do you some good as a distraction, I do agree that your health is paramount and you may require a break from the competition.

    I rrestate TA’s kind offer; do shout out should there be anything we can do. You are in our prayers.

  • My predictions for the weekend’s picks follow:      

    Brentford v Chelsea * D (2-2)

    Everton v West Ham * H (2-1)

    Fulham v Brighton * H (2-1)

    Newcastle v Wolves * D (1-1)

    Man City v Man U * H (4-2)

    Arsenal Ladies v Tottenham Ladies * H (4-1)

  • I thought it would be appropriate to correct the misunderstandings in the last round – so here are the corrected year to date scores:-

    1st Eris 144.78

    2nd Stuart 138.46

    3rd Total 136.12

    4th PB 118.65

    5th GN5 111.13

    6th Kev 104.79

    “””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””

    On checking the wording in Eris’s predictions it’s obvious the he intended Liverpool to win by an away score of 1-2. The issue was that I had entered the score he showed (2-1) even though the wording stated a Liverpool away win. The result of this is that Eris now shares the most correct predictions with Kev instead of Kev being the only one with 4 correct predictions. So Eris gains 3 points and Kev loses 2.

    End of……………..

    “”””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””

  • Brentford v Chelsea 2-1

    Everton v West Ham 1-2

    Fulham v Brighton 1-1

    Newcastle v Wolves 2-1

    Man City v Man U 3-1

    Arsenal Ladies v Tottenham Ladies 2-1

  • Brentford v Chelsea * A 1-3

    Everton v West Ham * D 2-2

    Fulham v Brighton * H 2-1

    Newcastle v Wolves * H 2-0

    Man City v Man U * D 1-1

    Arsenal Ladies v Tottenham Ladies * H 3-0

  • Evening kick off in Sheffield. You attending the match, Total?

  • I shall be attending my television set on Monday evening with a large mug of tea in my lucky mug in one hand and a sausage sandwich resplendent with brown sauce in the other. Life is Good…

  • Porto are beating Benfica to a pulp. 4-0 with 20 minutes to go, and – surprise, surprise – Otamendi’s just been sent off – very rightly so.

    Galeno scored twice, Wendell bagged a lucky third, and Pepê (their playmaker, not their skipper) just got the 4th … but the outstanding player, by a mile, has been their diminutive left-footed RW, Conceiçao. Whether or not Zinch is fit again, it’d be wise to keep picking Kiwior as caretaker of our left flank – ideally, right-footed Tomiyasu would have been perfect imo.

    On a night like this they look like they might hurt us at some point. Wouldn’t be surprised if we had to score three to make it to the next round.

    COYG

  • 5-0 at the final whistle. 64% possession, 599 passes. A little different from their stats v us. Breaking them down was our problem, Zinch may be chosen to help with that. We’ll see if he gets some minutes on Monday.

    Send us a pic of your luck mug, Kev.

    I fancy England for the Euro’s. Foden, Kane & Saka up top. Bellingham and Rice in midfield, Stones & Walker in defence. Pickford in goal. All players at the top of their game.

  • Arsenal been ruthless against a hapless Sheffield United side. Suddenly, we are no longer that team which lets up when we go one or two goals up. I guess GD may come into play at the end of the season. Who knows?

  • Well that was very enjoyable, I did think that double figures was on at one point, but the level dropped a bit after the subs.

    Partey looked unsurprisingly rusty but with minutes in the tank he’ll sharpen up – but as it stands for me, he’s still behind Jorginho.

    Jesus was perpetual motion, a great player to bring on, but behind Havertz as centre forward.

    Vieira was ok but I’m still not convinced. I want him to convince me but as of yet he’s way off of a starting berth. He needs to look at how hard Raya, Havertz, Kiwior and Jorginho have worked to get into the side and stay there, he’s miles off of that…

    Cedric was just Cedric. It gave Benny a rest.

    Trossard is a gem, the level of player you want coming off of the bench at this stage of the season, not some novice from the academy.

  • Woohoo! How many cans did you use, Total? Six goals, six scorers, sexiest half of football since… um, last weeks game. Untouchables.

  • P.S.G. are thought to be preparing to approach Arsenal with a bid in the region of £120m for ‘starboy’ Bakayo Saka this summer…

    Are you worried?

  • Kevski, I’m a coming to claim that taxi ride at the end of April. I’ll buy you dinner and a pint if you can find me a ticket for a match.

  • Stu, my access to tickets is non-existent these days, that’s the downside of Arsenal being competitive, nobody wants to miss a single game.

    The only advice I can give you is to contact the Arsenal Supporters Club, tell them your story, visiting from Down Under etc and ask for help. Failing that it’s the usual ticket outlets like Via-a-Go-Go etc and be prepared to pay over the odds.

    Sorry I couldn’t be of more help.

  • To be honest, the Emirates isn’t big enough, if Tottenham can sell out most of their games and average over 61,000 and West Ham average over 62,000 the 2nd highest in the Premier League after ManYoo then you have to question the design of our stadium because those responsible didn’t have the ambition to design if so it could be easily extended to 70,000 – which Arsenal could easily sell-out…

  • You’re right, mate. Cheaper to hirer a helicopter and hover over the ground than purchase thru those outlets! 🧐

    I’ll be in Europe during the Euro’s so may have to slum it at one of those games… Italy v France is in Leipzig, a few hours from where I will be.

    Still keen to share a beer with you.

  • Yeah, I’m always up for a beer mate, when you know what you’re doing we can arrange a meet. 👍🏻

  • Hi, Total. Trust you are well. Do check on GN5 to how it went with his last appointment.

  • Great! That’s most appropriate.

    GN5, you are in our prayers, gooner.

  • Aah, Total. That reminds me of the North Bank on a good day…

  • Exactly the kind of win we needed before Tuesday

    Ben the King of Assists – what a velvet touch there is in his right foot. As a French supporter, I’m so very happy Southgate keeps thinking he’ll be able to do without him, come June.

    Bring on the Dragons – watched them yesterday, theydid just went through the motions, but Galeno did score a wonderful goal

    COYG

  • Well that is just a great win. It was getting too easy and that is always dangerous. The boys had to fight for their right to party again, and boy did they do it as a collective. 60 million doen the drain, Kai Havertz scores again. 🙂

  • Today reminded you what challenging for a league title is all about, it’s not about winning 6-0, it’s suffering, going through the full gamut of emotions, anxiety, fear, disappointment, rage, frustration, unbridled joy and many more. It’s both gut wrenching and wonderful all in a nice neat 2 hour or so package and then afterwards you’re wrecked but you can’t wait to go through it all again – and believe me we will on Tuesday because Porto are a crafty, cheating bunch of bastards and they’re coming to break our hearts…

    I can’t wait…

    And hurry back soon GN5

  • True, Kevski! I’d missed that gamut of emotions over the past few games where things were done and dusted by half time. My heart was sleep walking into this one, until Wisser whizzed in and pushed my angst button. A great example of pressing, but didn’t our Aaron make up for his lapse with two fine saves, showcasing the finest part of his game: shot stopping.

    Double true, LG! Surely Ben is the only behind Walker as England’s best right back. That White/Saka/Odegaard triangle is mesmerising.

    Triple true, Kev. Hurry back to us, GN5.

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