Here is Statto on our transfer history part 2.
6. Thierry Henry (August 99 from Juventus; £11m). We had just sold Le sulk and made a cool £23m. But we needed to replace him. So we got Davor Suker (a little cameo role at the club which I did enjoy, because he was a class act, just a little bit past his best) and a bit of a calculated gamble in TH. Echoes of Mr Bergkamp, in that his confidence was badly dented in Italy. Don’t forget that this man was a World Cup winner. More echoes of DB in that it took an eternity to score his first goal. Yet even more echoes when we played Southampton and he scores his first. I was at home watching Soccer Saturday. The legend that is Frank McLintock was commentating on the game and was in raptures about the goal. When I saw MOTM that night, I could see why, super strike. As Andy Gray says – you don’t save those. Well there followed over 200 more of them. Probably the best player ever to play for the club (there are a lot of you who will argue that, having seen Brady, Adams, Drake, James, Jack, DB, George et al). The reception that he gets at every PL ground, apart from WHL, shows what a player he is. I would finish it off by agreeing with Andy Gray’s comments during the Leeds game in April 2004 (a period when he almost single handily got us back into winning the title, when it was about to go horribly wrong). He said, after watching him score his fourth, after being fouled by Gary Kelly, that in all his time watching PL football, he hasn’t seen another player like him. This came a few days after scoring a hat trick v Liverpool (on a Good Friday, sorry, I meant a Great Friday). Remember my mate Carragher and Biscan bumping into each other after his mazy run for his third. Oh how I laughed.
6. Thierry Henry (August 99 from Juventus; £11m). We had just sold Le sulk and made a cool £23m. But we needed to replace him. So we got Davor Suker (a little cameo role at the club which I did enjoy, because he was a class act, just a little bit past his best) and a bit of a calculated gamble in TH. Echoes of Mr Bergkamp, in that his confidence was badly dented in Italy. Don’t forget that this man was a World Cup winner. More echoes of DB in that it took an eternity to score his first goal. Yet even more echoes when we played Southampton and he scores his first. I was at home watching Soccer Saturday. The legend that is Frank McLintock was commentating on the game and was in raptures about the goal. When I saw MOTM that night, I could see why, super strike. As Andy Gray says – you don’t save those. Well there followed over 200 more of them. Probably the best player ever to play for the club (there are a lot of you who will argue that, having seen Brady, Adams, Drake, James, Jack, DB, George et al). The reception that he gets at every PL ground, apart from WHL, shows what a player he is. I would finish it off by agreeing with Andy Gray’s comments during the Leeds game in April 2004 (a period when he almost single handily got us back into winning the title, when it was about to go horribly wrong). He said, after watching him score his fourth, after being fouled by Gary Kelly, that in all his time watching PL football, he hasn’t seen another player like him. This came a few days after scoring a hat trick v Liverpool (on a Good Friday, sorry, I meant a Great Friday). Remember my mate Carragher and Biscan bumping into each other after his mazy run for his third. Oh how I laughed.
7. Robert Pires (July 2000 from Marseilles; £6m). Fresh after his Euro 2000 win, with strong competition from Madrid and Juve (hard to believe now, the way that we now operate in the market, what we were capable of doing), we bought him. The last part of the Trinity (with TH & DB). For the next 6 years he destroyed teams. That strange running action, he would never give the ball away and possibly the best finisher I’ve ever seen (yes better than Wright and TH). The only time I’ve seen him cock up was the infamous penalty v Mancarab when he tried to be too flash with TH. Wonderful player, that goal v Villa on St Patricks Day 2002, the Dane, lobbed on his line, happy days.
8. Sol Campbell (June 2001 from Spuds; FREE, yes FREE). Don’t need to say much about this, apart from the fact it made me laugh a lot. The game that made him though was his return to WHL in October 2001, he was immense in that game, indeed on his 2nd return to the club he was brilliant at WHL again. Only downside, the first £100,000 / week footballer. Understandable because we bought a £10 million player for nought. But that ceiling being broken has lead on to us being priced out of the market (well that is the impression I get, but can’t understand how – but that’s a debate / article for another time).
9. Robin Van Persie (May 2004 from Feynoord; £2.75m). Just after winning the title, we get this unknown kid. Lots of injuries and lots of goals later we’re singing his praises. Just hope he doesn’t go in the summer. Bet Blackburn are hoping he leaves the country. His goal scoring record against them is incredible. That volley against Everton on our 125th birthday was one of the best goals seen at the ES.
10. Alex Oxade Chamberlain (June 2011 from Southampton; circa £9m). This kid could be one of the greatest players ever. Never seen anyone that young, show so much intelligence (even more than Cesc), great attitude, strong as an Ox (very apt) and an eye for goal. It also looks that he’s helped Theo raise his game. Just can’t wait until he teams up with JW. That will be interesting for us and England.
Special mention for transfers need to go to.
Malcolm Macdonald from Newcastle £333,333.33 (before my time admittedly); Lee Dixon from Stoke £400,000, Steve Bould from Stoke £390,000, Nigel Winterburn from Wimbledon £350,000 (3 of the best ever defenders for under half of what Manure paid for Gary Pallister); Marc Overmars from Ajax £5.5m; Manny Petit from Monaco £2.5m; Nic Anelka from PSG £500,000 (best teenager I’ve seen at the club until possibly AOC), Bacary Sagna from Auxerre £6m and Tom Vermalaen from Ajax £10m
Kanu from Inter Milan - £4.5m in January 1999. Mugging De Goey, Le Beef & Desailly for his hat trick at Stamford Bridge, say no more!!!
Statto
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