Rarely have Israeli players forged long careers in the Premier League, so when Aston Villa announced the signing of left-back Najwan Ghrayib in 1999, supporters understandably reserved judgement. Some might admit now that they were concerned, and their worst fears were finally realised as the £1M man had a torrid time in England. Former Villa scout Ross MacLaren said to then-manager John Gregory that Ghrayib was the best left-back he had ever seen and as a proposed move to Tottenham broke down at the time, Aston Villa swooped in to sign him, finding out quickly that MacLaren had clearly lost his mind. The defender made just five league appearances during his time at Villa Park, and was sold back to his former club Hapoel Haifa for just £150K a year later at a significant loss. Tottenham were left to breathe a sigh of relief that their deal broke down for Ghrayib before Villa signed him.
Crippy Cooke, 23, is a freelance Football Writer contributing to What Culture. He's had work featured on Zoo, MSN, London 24, The Telegraph, The Huffington Post, and was recently named Writer of the Year on FTBpro - while also a nominee for Best Male Blog in the Football Blogging Awards.
