2. Andrei Arshavin
Andrei Arshavin was on top of the world at one point in time and after an impressive Euro 2008 campaign, the world was his oyster. With a number of high profile clubs chasing the Russian's signature, he ultimately opted for Arsenal, a decision he will rue for the rest of his life, no doubt. Despite Arshavin's obvious skill and finishing prowess, he never shone in an Arsenal jersey and whilst glimmers of genius were shown in the odd appearance, he lacked the consistency to solidify his place in the starting 11. The promise he showed before putting pen to paper with the Gunners justified their reason to splash such a great deal of cash on him, but unfortunately for Wenger this signing never ended up going to plan. Fans expected the Russian winger to be a star from the outset, though settling into the best league in the world is a tough thing to do. The physicality and pace was something Arshavin struggled to deal with, but his quadruple in the league against Liverpool showed exactly why Arsenal fans expected so much. After signing on the final day of the January transfer window, the rest of the 2008-09 campaign was a successful one for the Russian and justified why
Arsenal spent £15 million on him. With 6 goals and 7 assists in 12 appearances, the sky seemed the limit for the newcomer. The following season saw the Russian score 10 in 30, hardly a disaster for a winger, but in-between his Man of the Match appearances were poor performances and ultimately the season was an inconsistent one. The 2010-11 campaign was even less consistent for the Russian with six goals in a season which he was almost ever-present, playing in Arsenal's red 37 times in the league. Following this, Wenger offloaded Arshavin back to Russia to join old club Zenit St. Petersburg on loan for the second half of the 2011-12 season after appearing 19 times and scoring just once for his parent club. This is where it went from bad to worse. In the 2012-13 season, Arshavin managed to appear just 7 times in the league and failed to score in any of these appearances. With his contract set to end at the seasons conclusion, Wenger opted against renewing his deal and thus he is now without a club. From potential Barcelona player to free agent in just over 4 years, and now Arshavin is failing to get in to the national side which he represented 75 times. A player with such an immense repertoire of individual awards, Andrei may attract interest from clubs hoping to revive his career - a career which certainly needs reviving. But his spell at Arsenal, on the most part, was a disaster.
Transfer fee: £15 million.