Utter the name Sebastien Squillaci and Arsenal fans will, to this day, still shudder. The centre back has gone down in the club’s history as perhaps one of the worst signings ever and his move to the Gunners certainly raised a few eyebrows.
Like Mikael Silvestre, Squillaci’s arrival in North London was odd given the player’s age - he was 30 at the time and clearly past his best, yet Wenger decided to ditch his policy of signing young talent to bring in the France international from Sevilla.
Costing around £4 million, Squillaci failed to show the talent that had earned him 21 France caps, though it is telling that all of those caps were prior to his move to Arsenal, an indication again that his best years were behind him.
After making 33 appearances in his first year with the Gunners, Squillaci went on to make just seven in the next two, and oddly enough, he wore the number 18 shirt while at Arsenal, just as Pascal Cygan and Silvestre did - two other French centre backs who still confuse Gunners’ fans as to why exactly they were signed.