Your Club's Best & Worst Foreigner (EPL)

Gennady 13 years ago

Manchester United 285 3975

We love them, laud them, loathe them, and laugh at them in equal measure. But who are the finest and the foulest overseas footballers to ever play for your club in English Premier League. I'm gonna start alphabetically:

1) Arsenal

BEST - Thierry Henry [1999-07; 2012: 375 apps, 229 goals]

While Bergkamp and Vieira will always be worshipped at the Emirates, the big, shiny bronze statue of Monsieur Va-Va-Voom plonked outside the ground says it all. Along with Arsene Wenger, Arsenal's record goalscorer was the main protagonist during eight trophy-laden seasons, his turbo-charged pace and elegant finishing taking defences apart.

WORST - Igor Stepanovs [2000-04: 29 apps 2 goals]
Wenger has often been accused of having a blind spot for defenders, but those who endured the misery of a 6-1 defeat at Manchester United in 2001 still shudder over Stepanov's performance at the back. Hopelessly out of his depth, the only surprise was that the Latvian stuck around at Highbury for two more years before finally being packed off to the Belgian League.

2) Aston Villa

BEST - Dwight Yorke [1989-98: 288 apps, 97 goals]
The Tobagan was as clinical on the pitch as he was in the nightclub, and while he had more success elsewhere, some of his best football was played in claret and blue.

WORST - Bosko Balaban [2001-04: 11 apps, 0 goals]
Sadly for the Croat, the numbers don't lie - and Balaban cost Villa 5.8m Pounds and 20,000 a week in return for zero complete games. To make things worse, the Villans had to stump up another 1m pounds to get rid of him.

3) Blackburn Rovers

BEST - Brad Friedel [2000-08: 356 apps, 1 goal]
The superhero stopper racked up nearly six seasons without missing a game, showing incredible consistency behind some shaky Rovers defences.

WORST - Corrado Grabbi [2001-04: 41 apps, 5 goals]
A prolific scorer in Serie B, the Italian's five goals across three seasons made a mockery of his 6.75m pounds fee.

4) Bolton Wanderers

BEST - Jay-Jay Okocha [2002-06: 145 apps, 18 goals]
For the exuberance, skill and plain-faced cheek of his play, and most importantly the joy and pride he brought to Trotters fans, no foreign player can top Jay-Jay "So nice they called him twice" Okocha.
In 2005 poll put him behind only Nat Lofthouse in a list of Wanderers legends - high praise indeed.

WORST - Gerald Cid [2007-08: 14 apps, 0 goals]
A center-back recruit from Bordeaux, Frenchman Cid played with the pace of a rubbish truck but without the mobility. He couldn't really tackle, head the ball or place a pass. Needless to say after a somewhat disappointing 14 games in Lancashire, his contract was ended by mutual consent.

5) Chelsea

BEST- Didier Drogba [2004-present: 324 apps, 150 goals]
10 Trophies, 150 goals, two Golden Boots and a brutal style of forward play that Prem defences still dread.

WORST - Fernando Torres [2011-present: 56 apps, 8 goals]
Torres completed his move to Chelsea on a five-and-a-half year contract on 31 January, 2011 for an undisclosed fee reported to be £50 million, which set a new record for a British transfer and made him the fourth most expensive footballer in history. He made his Chelsea debut on 6 February in a 1–0 home defeat to former club Liverpool.
Only on 23 April, Torres scored his first goal for Chelsea against West Ham United in a 3–0 victory, which ended a run of 903 minutes of football without a goal.

6) Everton

BEST - Tim Cahill [2004-present: 264 apps, 66 goals]
A revelation at Millwall, many questioned whether Cahill would make the step up when David Moyes paid 1.5m Pounds for him. Yet the Aussie just carried on doing what he'd been doing for years, busting around every corner of the pitch, scoring goals at superb rate for a midfielder and giving opponents nightmares with his physicality as Everton finished fourth.

WORST - Alex Nyarko [2000-04: 38 apps, 1 goal]
A 4.5m Pounds signing from Lens, Walter Smith appeared to have pulled off a coup in landing Ghana's version of Patrick Vieira. But after Nyarko was confronted by an angry Toffees fan following another poor performance, he asked to be subbed and transferred. In retrospect, he probably needed help adjusting to life in English football's goldfish bowl, but the game's never been sympathetic to those who don't fit the alpha male stereotype.

7) Fulham

BEST - Clint Dempsey [2007-present: 210 apps, 53 goals]
Whenever Fulham need a goal, Dempsey is the man who makes it happen. The Texan's strike against Liverpool in 2007 kept the Cottagers up, and fans will never forget his spectacular lob to see off Juventus in the Europa League. Despite playing in midfield, he has been Fulham's season high-scorer in three of his four completed league campaigns.

WORST - Ahmad Elrich [2005-07: 9 apps, 0 goals]
What was Chris Coleman thinking ? Elrich was slow, with a poor touch - two attributes rarely sought after in a winger - and clearly wasn't good enough for the Premier League.

8) Liverpool

BEST - Sami Hyypia [1999-2009: 462 apps, 35 goals]
The towering Finn will go down as Liverpool's best-ever value signing; his unheralded arrival from Willem II for 2.6m Pounds immediately shored up a decade-long leaky defence. The center-back won every trophy with Liverpool except the Premier League title in his 10-year spell with the Reds, co-captaining the team to a 2001 treble and forming a key part of that heroic Istanbul side.

WORST - El Hadji Diouf [2002-05: 83 apps, 6 goals]
While Hyypia was indicative of Gerard Houllier's nous in the overseas transfer market, a few substandard imports arrived at Anfield during his tenure. The 10m Pounds Senegalese Diouf - signed in preference to Nicolas Anelka - is near-universally remembered with enmity by fans, both for spitting at Celtic fan and providing a meagre return of six goals.

9) Manchester City

BEST - Carlos Tevez [2009-present: 91 apps, 53 goals]
Before all you City fans reach for the hate quill, consider this: Tevez was the darling of Eastlands less than a year ago, almost single-handedly firing you into the Champions league (he scored or assisted 43 percent of City's league goals) and spearheading a first major trophy win in 35 years. And it was the success of Tevez that paved the way for Yaya Toure, Silva and Sergio Aguero. Sad, but true.

WORST - Michael Frontzeck [1996-97: 26 apps, 0 goals]
If any signing embodied the Norman Wisdorn-like reign of Alan Ball, it was a wing-back that could neither attack nor defend. Having made a significant contribution to City's relegation from the Prem, the German would play the only good game of his Maine Road spell in the season-opener against Ipswich - until he was sent off, that is.

10) Manchester United

BEST - Cristiano Ronaldo [2003-09: 292 apps, 118 goals]
There's no disputing Eric Cantona was the catalyst for United's recent dominance, but World Player of the Year ? As well as keeping domestic titles rolling in at Old Trafford, the bicep-flexing Cristiano Ronaldo remains the only Prem player to win that accolade, as the Portuguese forward's explosive surges and gravity-defying shooting saw United step it up in the Champions league.

WORST - Bebe [2010-present: 7 games, 2 goals]
Fergie doesn't get many signings wrong, but the 7.4m Pounds he spent on a Portuguese kid he'd never seen play looks like a gamble that won't pay off. After just seven games, including an FA Cup run-out in which Crawley gave him the run-around, his wayward crossing saw him loaned to Besiktas.

11) Newcastle United

BEST - Nolberto Solano [1998-04; 2005-07: 315 apps, 48 goals]
Peruvian "Nobby" brought impeccable crossing and free-kicks to Newcastle during a spell that featured Champions League football. When Maradona dubs you "El Maestrito" you must be doing something right.

WORST - Jean-Alain Boumsong [2005-06: 59 apps, 0 goals]
Eyebrows were raised when Graeme Souness paid Rangers 8mil Pounds for the Frenchman - he was available on a free six month earlier. With Titus Bramble, the pair formed one of the worst center defensive duo in Premier League.

12) Norwich City

BEST - Mathias Svensson [2003-05: 44 apps, 11 goals]
The Swede took the time to settle, but after a storming spell towards the end of 2003-04, the striker deserves huge credit for taking Norwich up.

WORST - Julien Brellier [ 2007-8: 11 apps, 0 goals]
A cult hero at Hearts, the Frenchman's tackling won him few friends south of border, and he racked up almost as many cards as appearances.

13) Queens Park Rangers

BEST - Adel Taarabt [2009-present: 112 apps, 28 goals]
The mercurial Moroccan has yet to find his form in the Premier League since inspiring Rangers' promotion last season, but few woud doubt his ability. His skill can be bewildering, and if he can stick around and ignore a tempting move to interesting clubs abroad, Hoops gaffer Mark Hughes might yet see the best of him.

WORST - Alessandro Pellicori [2009-11: 10 apps, 1 goal]
The Italian journeyman is a shining example of Fabio Briatore and Gianni Paladini's mismanagement of the club. With manager Jim Magilton allegedly under instruction to play him, the striker struggled through 10 games, scoring just once.

14) Stoke City

BEST - Ricardo Fuller [2006-present: 199 apps, 50 goals]
Arguably Tony Pulis' best signing at Stoke, this isn't the only club that deem the talented Jamaican to be their no.1 foreigner. Despite his unpredictable nature - he was sent off for slapping his own captain, Andy Griffin, in 2008 - Fuller retains the ability to turn any game in the Potters' favour even now as a sub, and all for a bargain 500k.

WORST - Vincent Pericard [2006-09: 45 apps, 4 goals]
Pulis may be shrewd in the transfer market, but the first signing in his second spell in the Britannia dugout will go down as a right clanger. Once of Juventus, French striker Pericard rarely looked interested duting his three years with the Potters, as his four goals and four-month prison sentence for lying to the police about driving a car at 103 mph attest.

15) Sunderland

BEST - Thomas Sorensen [1998-2003: 197 apps, 0 goals]
The 6ft 5in Dane kept an incredible 29 clean sheets in his debut season before helping the Black Cats to consecutive 7th-place finishes in the Premier League.

WORST - Tore Andre Flo [2002-03: 33 apps, 6 goals]
The former Chelsea and Rangers man, a then club record signing at 6.75mil, looked all at sea as a long ball target, and was soon dropped by Reid's successor Howard Wilkinson before being released the next season.

16) Swansea City

BEST - Dzemal Hadziabdic [1980-83: 87 apps, 2 goals]
The Yugoslav international provided a cool head and stacks of experience at left-back during the Swans' 1980-81 promotion season under John Toshack, before helping the club to an incredible sixth-placed finish in the top flight the following year.

WORST - Marcus Bean [2005: 17 apps, 1 goal]
Twice loaned to Swansea from QPR in the same year, the Jamaican had a negligible impact in the middle. Indeed, his most memorable achievement came on his return as Brentford player in 2008, when he was sent off for two bookable offences. Let's just say the home fans didn't show him too much sympathy.

17) Tottenham Hotspur

BEST - Osvaldo Ardiles [1978-88: 311 apps, 25 goals]
Signing two Argentine World Cup winners was a major coup for Spurs, with Ardiles and Ricky Villa helping pave the way for a foreign invasion of the English game. But it was Ossie who most epitomised the club's free-flowing philosophy, his Falklands-interrupted 10-year spell at Tottenham bringing in two Fa Cups and the UEFA Cup.

WORST - Grzegorz Rasiak [2005-09: 9 apps, 0 goals]
With Frederic Kanoute sold to Sevilla in 2005, Spurs boss Martin Jol hoped Rasiak - a surprised transfer deadline day signing from the Championship side Derby - could fill the void. He couldn't and was back swifly back in the second tier with Southampton just five month later.

18) West Bromwich Albion

BEST - Richard Sneeks [1996-2001: 253 apps, 34 goals]
The midfielder who inspired the boing-boing Baggies to don long blond wigs had five fruitful years at the Hawthorns. The main reason for their adulation of the Dutchman was for how the dragged the club from the drop zone to mid-table after signing in March, 1996, smashing in 10 goals in 13 games from midfield.

WORST - Fabian De Freitas [1998-2000: 68 apps, 10 goals]
Known as the "lump" by West Brom fans - and not in an affectionate way - Surinamese-Dutch striker De Freitas most telling contribution to Baggies folklore was missing a 5-1 hammering at home to Crewe because he thought the match kicked off at 7:45 PM. Just as well, really, given 500 angry fans stayed behind afterwards to protest about poor team's performance.

19) Wigan

BEST - Antonio Valencia [2006-09: 87 apps, 7 goals]
The Ecuadorian winger proved invaluable as the Latics consolidate their position in the Premier league... How they could do with him now...

WORST - Mauro Boselli [2010-present: 12 apps, 1 goal]
Signed from Estudiantes for 6.5mil, the Argentinian Copa Libertadores - winning striker managed one Carling Cup goal before being loaned out.

20) Wolverhampton Wanderers

BEST - Nenad Milijas [2009-present: 66 apps, 9 goals]
The Serbian International has never quite made himself a regular fixture at Molineux, but when giving the chance his was of a left foot has caused many a problem in the opposition area. Having previously stared as a free-scoring midfielder for a Red Star Belgrade.

WORST - Tomasz Frankowski [2006-07: 18 apps, 0 goals]
Having infamously been labelled "the missing piece of the jigsaw" by then-manager Glenn Hoddle, the Polish striker failed to score even once, leading fans to bestow him with the far from flattering nickname "The Pole without a goal". The 1.4mil flop was eventually off-loaded with a year left on his contract.