Arsenal have usually been a player in the transfer market that likes to take their time with transfers, but that certainly hasn’t been the case in the signing of FC Porto star Fabio Vieira.
Links to the Portuguese midfielder seemed to have come out of nowhere, with the 22-year-old reported as a target for Arsenal before mere hours later a transfer was agreed according to Fabrizio Romano, with a formal announcement from the club the only missing step as of writing.
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With Arsenal making a surprise signing so early in the window in Vieira, the deal has got us thinking about similar transfers the Gunners have pulled off over the years, with Arsene Wenger occasionally pulling off magical transfers in the market.
Indeed, everyone loves a surprise transfer, and Arsenal signing Vieira firmly fits into this category, with the Portuguese youngster a player who has already got supporters excited about what the midfield maestro can produce.
Sol Campbell
There’s really only one place to start with when it comes to Arsenal and shock signings, and that’s the Gunners’ capture of Tottenham captain Sol Campbell on a free transfer, a move that quite literally came out of the blue.
Reports at the time had linked Campbell with a move to FC Barcelona on a free transfer. However, Arsenal beat the Spanish giants to the punch, with Wenger securing the defender’s signature in a surprise press conference that caught everyone off, at the time.
Mesut Ozil
Every Arsenal fan knows where they were the day Mesut Ozil signed for the Gunners. Whilst, in retrospect, the transfer didn’t work out as well as many would have hoped, there’s no denying that this one move arguably changed the north London side.
Signed from Real Madrid on deadline day 2013 for a then-club-record £42m, the future FIFA World Cup winner brought unimaginable hype to Arsenal the likes of which hadn’t been seen in years, and whilst Ozil’s time in the Premier League was turbulent, his signing was easily one of the defining moments for the club in the coming years.
Danny Welbeck
The summer of 2014 brought many changes to Arsenal, with Wenger splashing over £100m in the market for the first time in his managerial career. Yet despite Alexis Sanchez being the headline signing, the most surprising move came once again on deadline day in the form of Danny Welbeck.
The Manchester United talent was still in the early years of his career, and Welbeck joining Arsenal seemed like an odd move. However, a hat-trick on his UEFA Champions League debut, a winner at Old Trafford in another FA Cup-winning year and THAT last-minute goal against Leicester City has since made the striker a cult hero at the Emirates Stadium.
Nicolas Pepe
It still seems crazy to think that Arsenal’s current record signing still remains Nicolas Pepe, with the £72m winger reportedly set to leave north London this summer after failing to live up to his price tag. Yet despite this, it’s easy to forget just how highly sought after the attacker was.
After a record-breaking year with LOSC Lille, every club seemed to be interested in Pepe. Yet despite the odds, it was Arsenal who signed the attacker over the likes of Liverpool, Napoli and Manchester United. Though as mentioned, the deal has been a huge let-down.
Aaron Ramsdale
A surprise signing can invoke one of two emotions of either pure joy or utter bemusement, and Arsenal’s move last summer to sign Aaron Ramsdale firmly lands in the latter category, though not for long.
The 24-year-old quickly replaced Bernd Leno as Arsenal’s starting keeper, and for the first half of the season, Ramsdale was arguably the best in his position in the Premier League, though the youngster’s form has dipped slightly since the turn of the year.
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