How successful were Arsenal’s 5 transfer signings alongside Thierry Henry in 1999?


How successful were Arsenal’s 5 transfer signings alongside Thierry Henry in 1999?

Arsenal pulled off one of the greatest transfer windows of their entire history in 1999, when they brought in French striker Thierry Henry from Juventus in an £11million deal. The striker went on to become one of the best strikers in the league if not the best over his long career since then at the Emirates.

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However, the club’s summer transfer window business was not just restricted to the signing of Henry, but they also signed 5 other players to go with Henry. We take a look at all those 5 players in this article and how they fared in their respective Arsenal careers.

Davor Suker

Davor Suker

Arsenal signed Davor Suker from Real Madrid for a transfer fee of just £3.5million after he had made a name for himself by becoming the leading goal scorer in the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

The club had high hopes from the Croatian striker but he failed to live up to those as his career took a downward spiral and he was mostly placed on the bench by Arsene Wenger. He spent a single season at the club and played 39 matches scoring just 11 goals. He was shipped off to West Ham United the next summer.

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Stefan Malz

The Gunners signed German midfielder Stefan Malz from 1860 Munich for a petty of just £650,000. However, the German midfielder found it very hard to adjust to life at the Premier League club and made just 6 appearances in the league for the Gunners. His career at the Emirates was largely plagued with injuries and after two seasons Wenger decided to sell him to Bundesliga club FC Kaiserslautern.

Sylvinho

Sylvinho

Sylvinho joined the club from Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Corinthians and became the first Brazilian left-back to play for the club. He impressed one and all at the club and was handed a starting spot by Wenger in his first season itself. He went on to make 72 appearances for the club but was eventually sold off to La Liga team Celta Vigo in 2001, despite being named as one of the players in the PFA Team of the Year.

Oleh Luzhny

Arsene Wenger signed Oleh Luzhny in 1999 after the Ukrainian right-back had impressed him in their matches against Dynamo Kyiv in the Champions League. He was brought in as cover for Lee Dixon for an undisclosed fee. Although he never made it into the starting lineup at the club, Luzhny had a decent career at Arsenal and stayed on for 4 more years and was part of the Premier League and FA Cup-winning teams in 1999 and 2003. He made 110 appearances but failed to register a goal to his name.

Moritz Volz

Moritz Volz

Moritz Volz was yet another right-back who was signed in the same year by Wenger, and he joined the club as a 16-year old from Schalke 04. Volz was a member of the successful academy side that won the FA Youth Cup in 2000 and 2001. But his senior career as an Arsenal player never really took off and he played just 2 matches for the club, both of those coming in the League cup competitions. Volz ultimately left the club after an underwhelming spell in 2002.

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In the end, it is fair to say that neither of the players, signed by Arsenal in that transfer summer window, except Thierry Henry lived up to the expectations which Arsene Wenger had of them. However, Thierry Henry repaid them completely and it can be said that made Arsenal the prime force that it was in the early part of the century. Since the departure of Thierry Henry and Wenger, the club has fallen significantly and is still on the downhill slope even in 2021.

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