10 Underwhelming Arsenal Signings Who Became Cult Heroes

5. Ian Wright

As everyone knows, before Thierry Henry came along, there was one name emblazoned into the Arsenal top goalscoring charts - a man acquired from Crystal Palace in the summer of 1991 for a club record £2.5 million. Arriving relatively late to the professional game, only signing his first professional contract three months short of his 22nd birthday, Wright quickly made up for lost time in London, bagging 90 goals in 225 appearances for the Eagles. According to Wright, however, Gunners supporters weren't too enamoured with the 27 year old's signature, such was George Graham's stockpile of attacking options.

''When I first came to Arsenal, people went on the streets it the vox pops saying 'what are you buying him for?'. I remember just sitting there watching the telly and watching people talk - 'he's not good enough to play for Arsenal. We've got Merson, Campbell, this one, that one'. Alan Smith had just got two Golden Boots. I swear to God, I sat down, watching the news, literally ***** myself.'' - Ian Wright, March 2014.

Of course, the doubts about the former Palace hitman's hefty price tag were swiftly rammed back down their throats with a debut goal against Leicester City before a hat-trick on his league debut against Southampton, before rounding the season off with a Golden Boot following a 29 goal salvo. Top scorer for the club six seasons in a row, he helped the club to five trophies on his way to plundering 185 goals in 279 start for the Gunners. Now someone dig out those vox pop archives and find those who insisted Arsenal were already set with Paul Merson.