When Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger secured the services of a 17-year-old Nicolas Anelka in 1997, it was seen as a real coup. The young striker went on to prove his worth, playing a key role in the side that won a Premier League and FA Cup double in 1998, before going on to be voted the Young Player of the Year a season later.
However, later that summer, the teenager wanted out, blaming the English media for his unhappiness. He was eventually shipped out to Real Madrid for just over £23m - providing Arsenal with a tidy profit from the £500,000 that they paid Paris Saint-Germain for his services.
It left Wenger with a striking void to fill and he went some way to doing that by capturing the experienced Davor Suker from Madrid for £3.5m. The Croatian was only ever going to be a short-term fix, though, meaning that the Gunners were still in need of a youthful injection up front.
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It arrived on this very day 14 years ago when Wenger turned to a fellow Frenchman in the form of Thierry Henry, who cost Arsenal a then club-record fee of £11m.
The 22-year-old had been part of the France squad that had won the World Cup in 1998, but his club career had stalled. He left Monaco in the January of 1999 for Juventus, but after just 16 appearances and three goals, he had decided that he could no longer continue in Italy.
Six months later he was being unveiled as an Arsenal player in London, where Wenger said of him: "Thierry Henry is a valuable addition to our squad. He is a young international striker who will be a great asset to Arsenal. He has good experience of both club and international football and will considerably strengthen our firepower.
"He gives you a lot of options. He can play wide or in the centre and makes anything possible when he has the ball. Thierry has pace, power and great dribbling. I would like to move him into the centre either as the second striker or the main target man."
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It took Henry eight matches to break his goalscoring duck in a match against Southampton, but from that moment on, he looked destined to become an Arsenal legend. The frontman would go on to become the club's leading goalscorer of all time, winning two Premier League titles and three FA Cups along the way.
The lure of Barcelona would prove too strong in 2007, though, and playing alongside Lionel Messi and company, Henry claimed even more medals.
He briefly returned to the Emirates Stadium in January 2012 for a loan stint from the New York Red Bulls, scoring two goals, including a late winner against Sunderland. All in all, the number 14 found the back of the net on 228 occasions for the North Londoners.
Liam Apicella
