10 Strangest Arsenal Signings Of All Time

7. Mikael Silvestre

Tony Marshall/EMPICS Sport

Up next is another centre back, Mikael Silvestre, and just like Igor Stepanovs, the deal that brought the Frenchman to Arsenal must go down as one of the most bizarre in the club's history.

The international full-back joined the Gunners in the summer of 2008, arriving at the club from rivals Manchester United for an undisclosed fee, having spent nearly a decade with the Red Devils. It's fair to say that his decision to join Arsene Wenger€'s side came as a shock to many, not least the club€'s fans.

The centre back made 26 league appearances during two years with Arsenal, but he never demonstrated the talent he had during 350 appearances at Old Trafford. His signing is also a strange one because of the context surrounding the transfer. The season before, Arsenal had finished third and just four points off top spot, and when they were in dire need of strengthening, Wenger elected to sign a 31-year-old centre back that Manchester United were happy to offload. To this day the signing of Silvestre still confuses Arsenal fans.

Contributor
Contributor

Simon is an NCTJ qualified sports journalist. He has conducted interviews with Tony Adams and Peter Shilton, while also having work published in The Daily Telegraph and The Sun. Follow him on Twitter via @sr_collings.