Wenger’s Top Arsenal Signings – Part 1
Thierry Henry
French Born Thierry Henry arrived at Highbury in the summer transfer window of 1999. He played half of a season at Juventus and scored only 3 goals in his 16 matches for “The Old Lady”. He was unsettled at the Italian club, and desired to reunite with his ex-manager, Wenger. Henry replaced his fellow French star Nicolas Anelka at Arsenal. By position, Henry was a winger, but in nature he was attacking, and this is what Wenger liked about him. Soon, with the help of Wenger, Henry became one of the top most strikers in English premier League. Henry had a unique blend of speed, power, vision and control. His constant hard work polished his talent and skill, and he became the captain for Wenger’s side.
When he started playing for Arsenal, Henry had a run of 8 matches without a goal, however, he finished his first season at Arsenal with respectable tally of 26 goals. He won the Golden Boot award four times and in total scored 226 goals for Arsenal, which stays a club record till now. Henry feared the uncertainty about Wenger's future as a manager at Arsenal and claims this to be a reason to move to Barcelona. He once said “I always said that if I ever left Arsenal it would be to play for Barcelona." In 2007 Henry was sold to Barcelona for 16.5 GBP.
Patrick Viera
Another French star, Senegal born, Patrick Viera joined Arsenal from A.C. Milan. This transfer was in the year 1996, the reason being; he made only two first team appearances for A.C. Milan in year 1995-1996. The combative midfielder was price tagged at 3.5 GBP, and Wenger advocated Viera’s case to Arsenal, even before he himself arrived. Viera quickly settled into the rough English game and started to mark a significant difference with his arrival. Swift passing, intelligent game play and tough physique were Viera’s strong attributes.
He appeared in 279 matches and scored 29 goals in a career that stretched to about 9 years.During this time, number of players came and left, but he was the heartbeat of the team. In the season of 2003-2004, he captained the gunners on an historic unbeaten season in the Premier League. Since Viera left Arsenal for Juventus, the gunners failed to win any major silver ware. As a matter of fact, Viera is the only player to have won as many major trophies at Arsenal as Wenger has.
Robert Pires
Wenger’s love for French players didn’t end, as he managed to grab Robert Pires from Marseille for 6 million GBP in 2000. In a tenure of 66 matches at Marseille, he netted 8 times. The predictions about the French winger was that he would never adjust into the harsh English league, however he proved the pundits wrong in his 6 years career with Arsenal. He started to show his true colors in his second season at Arsenal, and then won Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year award in 2002. He also won Arsenal's player of the season award in year 2002.
He shared a great chemistry with Henry and that helped Arsenal’s cause to great effect. In his 6 years for Arsenal, he played 189 matches in total and scored 62 goals. Manager Wenger let Pires leave the club on a free transfer, making a net 6m GBP loss.
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