Billed as the successor to David Seaman, Richard Wright’s transfer to Arsenal in July 2001 turned out to be a disaster. Costing a reported £6 million at the time, the goalkeeper made just 12 league appearances for the Gunners during his one-year spell at the club.
The low point of Wright’s Arsenal career undoubtedly came in the match against Charlton Athletic, during which he punched the ball into his own net, as Arsene Wenger’s side went on to lose the match 4-2, much to the annoyance of a very disgruntled Highbury.
Not long afterwards Wright well and truly fell out of favour at Arsenal, falling below academy goalkeeper Stuart Taylor towards the end of his one season in North London. Unsurprisingly, he was sold to Everton in the summer of 2002.
The signing of Wright is a strange one simply due to the huge fee he commanded; £6 million may not seem like a lot now, but at the time it was a significant amount of money, and even more so when you consider that the Gunners signed Jens Lehmann for free just 12 months later.