Arsenal's From Brilliant To Bobbins XI - Part 2
Strikers
Kaba DIAWARA
He came, he hit the post a lot, he left. In January 1999, with Bergkamp suffering from World Cup burnout and with moves for Henry, van Nistelrooy and Kluivert all having fallen through, the Gunners were unsurprisingly struggling to score goals in the 1998-99 season. (They conceded 2 fewer than eventual winners Manchester United, but scored 21 fewer). In January 1999, Wenger made a striking double swoop for Nwankwo Kanu and Kaba Diawara.
Diawara did not find minutes difficult to come by as Arsenal chased the title. But he appeared to have left his shooting boots in France. His performances were often pretty decent, but his shots had an annoying habit of striking the woodwork. "Once one goes in, there will be no stopping him," was a rather common sentiment in the Highbury crowd. But one never did, he left less than six months after joining, in the summer of 1999, having failed to register a single goal.
Carlos VELA
Vela caught eye of European scouts everywhere when he finished as top scorer in the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Arsenal worked incredibly hard and fended off a lot of competition to land Vela from Mexican club C.D. Guadalajara in 2005. Due to work permit issues, the club had to be content with farming him out on loan to Celta Vigo, Salamanca and Osasuna until he became eligible for a work permit. It was a lot of work and much patience was required, but Arsene Wenger was convinced he had a diamond in the rough in the Mexican speedster.
Vela returned to Arsenal for the 2008-09 season and was immediately awarded the number 12 shirt, which suggested that he would form part of the first team picture. He wowed crowds with his displays in the Carling Cup that season, chipping and dinking embarrassed goalkeepers at will. "Oh Vela, Vela, our Mexican superstar, he's better than Cantona" the Emirates crowd swooned.
But in the more competitive confines of the Premier League, Vela found it much more difficult to make an impact. The lofted finish had become something of a trademark and it looked increasingly to be his most notable attribute. Arsenal decided to send him on loan and there was something of a stand off when the club insisted that Vela's development would be better served in the Premier League, with the player preferring a stint in La Liga.
Arsenal had their way in the end, but Vela's spell at West Brom was distinctly underwhelming. The Cancun born striker also created controversy in his homeland as he refused a series of call ups to the Mexican national squad, citing a variety of reasons. Despite being assigned the number 11 shirt for the 2010-11 season, Vela was loaned to Real Sociedad in August 2011. Vela was notably happier in Spain, scoring 12 goals in 30 appearances during his loan spell.
He made his desire to stay very public and in July 2012, a permanent deal between the teams was brokered. Vela has played reasonably well in Spain, but one suspects he hasn't come close to reaching the potential he showed in his nascent years. Arsenal installed a £4m buyback clause for Vela upon his sale. Rumours abounded during the summer of 2014 that Arsenal were preparing to bring Vela back to North London. Instead, they agreed to waive their buy back clause for the sum of £4m.
SUBSTITUTES / HONOURABLE MENTIONS:
12. Matthew Upson, 13. Richard Wright, 14. Sebastien Squillaci, 15. Ian Selley, 16. Andrey Arshavin, 17. Nicklas Bendtner, 18. Christopher Wreh.
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