Arsene Wenger might be regarded by many as Arsenal’s all-time greatest manager but at times, he didn’t always get it right.
Despite bringing in a number of brilliant players like Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Manu Petit, Wenger also had his stinkers when it came to the market.
Of course, in the main, things were always pretty swell under Wenger and looking back, the ones he got right far outweigh the ones he got wrong.
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However, when it comes to one of Wenger’s biggest gambles that didn’t pay off, we need look no further than forgotten man, Amaury Bischoff.
What happened to Arsenal flop Amaury Bischoff
Arsenal’s summer transfer window in 2008 was a strange one indeed.
They splashed big cash at the time on players like Samir Nasri and Andrey Arshavin, while Aaron Ramsey was also regarded and proved to be a shrewd capture.
It was also the summer that saw an influx of young talents join the squad, as the likes of Jack Wilshere, Henri Lansbury and Wojciech Szczesny all made the jump up.
However, in and among those good players was the signing of young Portuguese midfielder, Amaury Bischoff.
At the time, Wenger admitted himself it was a gamble signing, with Bischoff already struggling with injuries as a young player. However, just £300k got the deal done and it was seen as a no lose really for the club and Wenger.
Bischoff struggled, massively.
He made just a handful of appearances in the EFL Cup, and scored just once in ten reserve appearances for the Gunners.
In terms of the Premier League, Bischoff made just a single appearance, replacing Theo Walcott late in the season as Arsenal took on Portsmouth.
However, rather than that be the start of something, Bischoff was released the month after, never to be seen – or heard of really – again.
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Amaury Bischoff’s career after leaving Arsenal
Injuries have clearly played their part in Bischoff’s career but looking at the clubs he’s been at since Arsenal, it’s clear he was never going to do it.
He signed for Academica back in Portugal before finally playing regular games during a loan then permanent move to Aves.
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However, his most prominent and successful spell came with German second division club, SC Preußen Münster.
Here, Bischoff made north of 150 appearances in five seasons and then earned a move to more well known German outfit, Hansa Rostock. Again, he did ok, making north of 50 appearances.
Bischoff then moved on to Bahlinger and then finally, Colmar, who play in the fifth tier of French football.
In terms of stats, he managed over 340 professional appearances and more than 40 goals.
So while Bischoff failed at Arsenal, he did achieve something at least.
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