5 biggest flops in Arsenal history

#3 Willian

The north London club should never have signed the aging Chelsea forward

Mikel Arteta was looking to bring in an experienced customer to blend in with his young side, hoping that the combination would prove effective. Willian was the player he bet on and signed him from Chelsea on a free.

It turned out to be a painful experience for the player, who looked a shadow of himself from his time at Stamford Bridge. It was equally unpleasant for Arteta, who ran out of excuses and reasons while defending the Brazilian.

Willian was supposed to bring in creativity into the Arsenal side, create goal scoring opportunities and play defense-splitting passes, but nothing came to fruition.

His performances were dull, the player felt slow and hardly managed to make his presence felt in a side with only a couple of big names. He left Arsenal after a single season, registering abysmal figures of one goal and seven assists in 37 matches across all competitions. But Willian underwhelmed in so many other departments.

The Brazilian rarely pressed with the same intensity known from his Chelsea days and did not help the team set a tempo for the game because he was too lethargic. He now plays for Brazilian side Corinthians and, in 12 games, is yet to score his first goal. Can't blame his poor showing for Arsenal on Arteta, can he?

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#2 Shkodran Mustafi

Mustafi made comical errors throughout his time with the Gunners

There was a time when Shkodran Mustafi was pretty good and thriving in defense for La Liga side Valencia. He was even starting games regularly for the German national team. So Arsenal were supposed to be getting a mature defender who went about his business in a no nonsense manner.

The Gunners forked out €41 million to secure his signature, making him their most expensive centre-back until Ben White arrived last summer. Mustafi had a good start to his career at the Emirates but eventually the reality got exposed.

The defender was all over the place and never looked like a commanding figure. His reading of the game and anticipation were poor and it was too easy to beat him in one on one situations. Aerially, he was good and scored a few goals in the Arsenal outfit, nine in 151 appearances to be precise, but the Arsenal faithful could never trust him to not make a mistake.

It's awful how with every passing season he kept losing significant pace and how his defensive abilities deteriorated. In addition to his own errors, he proved to be a liability for those that were paired with him. The likes of Laurent Koscielny and David Luiz all suffered.

He was a reliable partner for Nicolas Otamendi at Valencia, but in an Arsenal outfit he lacked composure and created more problems for his partner.

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#1 Sebastian Squillaci

Squillaci (right) challenges for the ball- Carling Cup Fourth Round

Arsenal's defensive woes have put them in a desperate situation a number of times and that has led to investment in hasty and ineffective solutions. If you told the Gunners fanbase that Sebastian Squillaci was a nice defender, they would not agree for one fleeting moment. And it's not their fault because what they saw of him was simply horrendous.

The Frenchman had successful stints at AS Monaco and after that won the Ligue 1 title twice at Olympique Lyon between 2006 and 2008. Before joining Arsenal in 2010, he spent two seasons at Sevilla, where he won the Copa Del Rey as well. None of that was even remotely discrenable when he took to the field at the Emirates.

The 30-year old made basic mistakes that took the momentum away from Arsenal. His clearances were off and rushed and there was panic when he found himself playing out from the back. Squillaci's own goal against Sunderland saw Arsenal crash out of the FA Cup in 2012.

The bar went so low that the French defender wasn't even considered fit to play backup. Considering everything that he had achieved in France, he definitely flopped big time in England.