#4 Mikael Silvestre – Arsenal
When Sir Alex Ferguson lets one of his players join their direct rivals, it doesn’t take a genius to guess that the alarm bells are ringing. However, his nemesis in the early 2000s, Arsene Wenger, failed to realise that simple fact and made the decision of going ahead with the signing of the then 31-year-old Frenchman who had already declined by the time he made his move to London.
Despite offers from Manchester City and from France, Wenger personally convinced the player to make the move to Arsenal, making him the first player since Brian Kidd in 1974 to move from United to Arsenal.
Silvestre made just 26 appearances in his two years with Gunners and eventually moved to Werder Bremen before plying his trade in the MLS and also in the Indian Super League with Chennaiyin FC.
