5 players you didn't know played for Arsenal

#3 Yossi Benayoun (19 appearances for Arsenal)

Yossi Benayoun performed well for Arsenal, but his stint there has been largely forgotten.

A wildly popular player over his years with West Ham United and Liverpool, it’s easy to forget that Yossi Benayoun played for Chelsea – let alone Arsenal.

However, the Israeli international actually made 19 appearances for the Gunners in the 2011-12 season, scoring four goals in the process.

Benayoun first appeared on the Premier League scene with West Ham in the 2005-06 season and spent two successful seasons with the Hammers.

After helping them to the 2006 FA Cup final, the Israeli moved to Liverpool in the summer of 2007 for a fee of around £5m.

During his time with the Reds, he became a key player and helped them mount a Premier League title challenge in 2008-09 before departing for Chelsea in 2010.

Playing time for him at Chelsea proved hard to come by, though, and by the 2011-12 season, he was clearly surplus to requirements.

And so the Blues surprisingly sent him on loan to London rivals Arsenal, where he actually performed excellently. In fact, his goals in the latter part of the season enabled the Gunners to finish above their bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League table.

However, his performances weren’t enough for a permanent move. He moved back to Chelsea before being sent on loan to his old club West Ham – ensuring that most fans have forgotten that he played for Arsenal at all!

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#4 Davor Suker (22 appearances for Arsenal)

Davor Suker was largely unable to establish himself in Arsenal's first team.

Widely recognized as one of his generation's best strikers, Davor Suker accomplished an incredible amount in his career.

The Croatian forward won the La Liga and the Champions League with Real Madrid and helped his international side to the semi-finals of the 1998 World Cup.

In fact, Suker finished as the top scorer in that tournament and was voted runner-up in 1998’s Ballon d’Or for his performances.

However, his time in the Premier League was largely forgettable, to the point where most fans don’t even remember his brief time with Arsenal in the 1999-00 season. Suker wasn’t a classic big-money flop, however.

The Croatian was already 31 when he arrived in North London. And he didn’t cost the club a penny as his contract with Real Madrid had ended at the end of the previous campaign.

Despite this, he couldn’t really break into the Gunners’ first team, largely due to the form of forwards Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry.

Suker made just 22 Premier League appearances for Arsenal, and most of them came as a substitute.

And while he did score eight goals for the club, he also missed his penalty in the 2000 UEFA Cup final shootout as Arsenal were defeated by Galatasaray.

By the end of the campaign, it was clear that Suker wasn’t going to become a first-choice player at Arsenal. And so he moved to fellow London side West Ham – where he had an equally forgettable season before departing the Premier League for good.

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#5 Marouane Chamakh (40 appearances for Arsenal)

Marouane Chamakh didn't live up to the hype at Arsenal.

It seems hard to believe now, but while Arsenal’s rivals were spending millions on new players in the summer of 2010, the Gunners’ big arrival was a free transfer from Bordeaux.

That big arrival was Moroccan striker Marouane Chamakh. And while he wasn’t prolific for Bordeaux – scoring 56 goals in 230 games – it was hoped he’d fire Arsenal into a Premier League title challenge.

Unfortunately, he never came close to doing such a thing.

Chamakh scored a handful of goals in the 2010-11 campaign’s pre-season games. And he opened his official account for Arsenal in his second Premier League game, scoring the final goal in a 6-0 win over Blackpool.

The Moroccan continued to find the net in his early months at the club. But by the turn of the year, he’d lost his touch entirely and looked a shadow of the player he’d been in the summer.

He quickly slipped out of Arsenal’s first team and ended the season with just 18 starts and seven goals to his name.

By the 2011-12 campaign, he was widely recognized as a flop. And after making just 11 appearances – ten from the bench – he was moved on in a loan move to West Ham for the 2012-13 campaign.

Chamakh only played three times for the Hammers too, and then made a permanent move to Crystal Palace – where he once again failed to make an impact.

Chamakh’s career ended in the EFL Championship with Cardiff City, and he now remains one of Arsenal’s more forgettable players of the last two decades.