Rio Ferdinand says Arsenal star Arsene Wenger signed for £500k was even better than Thierry Henry

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Arsene Wenger pulled off a number of incredible signings when he was at the helm at Arsenal.

The legendary Frenchman is the greatest manager in the Gunners’ history. He completely changed the face of the club on and off the pitch and is the reason why Arsenal are so big today.

Wenger knew foreign players better than everyone in England. His eye for talent is arguably the best ever and he helped several unknown footballers become superstars.

Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has now hailed one of Wenger’s signings at Arsenal.

Rio Ferdinand says Nicolas Anenlka was better than Arsenal legend Thierry Henry

Wenger signed Nicolas Anelka for Arsenal in 1997 for just £500,000 (Goal).

The Frenchman quickly became a star at Highbury and even displaced Ian Wright. He was an outstanding player and helped Arsenal win the double in his debut season.

Anelka was viewed as Arsenal’s present and future at the time, but the striker decided to leave for Real Madrid in 1999.

That opened the door for Thierry Henry to become who he became, and the rest is history.

Ferdinand, who played against both Henry and Anelka at a young age, knows both of their strengths very well, and he has now made a huge claim.

The Manchester United legend believes Anelka was even better than Henry at one point and would’ve reached close to Ronaldo Nazario’s level had he stayed at Arsenal.

He said in a video on his YouTube channel: “At that age, number nine strikers, Michael Owen, Anelka, even Henry – Anelka was the best.

“I’m telling you, the hardest to play against. He was a bad guy, he was bad.

“If he stayed as the number nine wanting to run in behind like the season at Arsenal he had, I don’t care, I’m going to go as far to say I think he’s going up there just underneath Ronaldo, the Brazilian Ronaldo.”

Thierry Henry vs Nicolas Anelka’s stats compared

Henry and Anelka’s careers panned out very differently.

Both players started in a similar way in France and ended up at Arsenal. However, Henry became an Arsenal legend, while Anelka didn’t fully live up to the potential he first showed.

Henry played for five clubs in his senior career, while his compatriot played for 12 across the globe. Here’s how their numbers look when compared to each other.

Anelka had the ability to become as good as Henry, but for one reason or another, he just couldn’t reach his full potential.

That is a shame as we really think he would achieved great things had he stayed at Arsenal in 1999 instead of jumping ship to Real Madrid, where he had a terrible time.