10. Igors Stepanovs
Admittedly #10 was a toss-up between Pascal Cygan and Igors Stepanovs, but the fact that Cygan played a role in the Invincibles season and played a handful more games than the Latvian makes Stepanovs an easy choice. The now-Latvia Under-17 manager was drafted in from Skonto Riga after attracting interest from across Europe, and Wenger brought him in to provide cover due to Tony Adams suffering an injury. Despite staying at the club for four years, Stepanovs never found his feet and ultimately appeared just 17 times under Wenger. The low fee and wages combination is the main reason Igors is not filling a top space in this article, but the fact remains that he was a flop despite showing so much potential in his native Latvia. After his spell at Arsenal, Stepanovs played for seven other clubs across Europe, playing in Switzerland, Denmark and Russia as well as spells back home in Latvia's capital, Riga. The step-up from Latvian top tier football to the Barclays Premier League is a substantial one, and this proved too much for the man who represented his country 100 times. If Stepanovs made the transition by playing in the English second tier then moving up, his career would not have proved to be such a flop. Just another case of too much, too soon. Now 37 years of age, Stepanovs is managing Latvia's national Under-17 football team after retiring in 2011. His career could have been more successful than it was, though he holds the honour of a Premier League medal as well as two FA Cup winners medals, and the prestigious Latvian Footballer of the Year in 2005!
Transfer fee: £1.35 million.