Financial Fair Play and Arsene Wenger’s 10 worst bargain buys

Manchester City find themselves pretty lonely at the top
Manchester City find themselves pretty lonely at the top

#2 Kaba Diawara

Diawara (R) played just 13 games for the Gunners
Diawara (R) played just 13 games for the Gunners

Wenger’s eye for bargains led him to Diawara, bought in January 1999 from Bordeaux for £2.5 million. The Guinean international lasted just one season before being sold to Marseille.

In his 13 games for the Gunners, Diawara drew a blank in front of goal. Another Wenger signing that failed to fulfil their potential at Highbury.

Diawara continued his career, playing for Marseille, Paris Saint-Germain, Blackburn Rovers, West Ham United, Racing de Ferrol, Nice, and a number of other clubs in Asia and Turkey.


#3 Pascal Cygan

Pascal Cygan was an invincible
Pascal Cygan was an invincible

Signed for £2 million in 2002 from French club Lille as a long-term replacement for Tony Adams, the Frenchman could never quite earn the confidence of Wenger.

Despite being part of the Invincible side that went an entire season unbeaten, fans would often groan and chant from the terraces whenever he put on the Arsenal shirt.

Cygan finally left the club in the summer of 2006 to join Spanish club Villarreal after making 63 Premier league appearances for the Gunners.

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Edited by Debjyoti Samanta