One of Arsenal’s biggest failed transfers of the last few decades was the signing of Francis Jeffers but Wayne Rooney has claimed it actually left him devastated.
Jeffers signed for Arsenal for £10m back in 2001 after emerging as one of England’s top prospects.
However, Jeffers never got going as an Arsenal player before his career spiralled downwards before finishing up at Accrington Stanley.
Arsenal fans…give us a worse signing than Francis Jeffers in the last 25 years and why!
Nevertheless, a young Wayne Rooney was coming through at Everton at the time and he’s revealed how Jeffers’ move left him gutted.
Wayne Rooney’s heartbreak after Arsenal signed Francis Jeffers from Everton
Like Rooney, Jeffers was a local boy who had made it big with the Toffees before Arsenal splashed the cash to sign him.
However, while Jeffers’ move was deserved at the time, Rooney has told BBC Sport that his fellow Evertonians move to London hurt him.
“Duncan was always my hero and everything growing up in but then Franny was the one who I was always could like picture myself as,” Rooney revealed.
“Because obviously where we’re from and so to to see him play for everything and it was it was horrible when when he left everything that like broke me honestly.”
Is Francis Jeffers Arsenal’s worst signing of the 2000s?
Let’s be straight, Arsenal have made some shocking signings over the years and there can be arguments for many players to be included.
Among the flop signings of the last 25 years we’ve seen big money spent on the likes of Nicolas Pepe, Shkodran Mustafi and more.
However, for the time and the with the clamour around Jeffers at the time, he is right up there as one of Arsenal’s worst of the last few decades.
If Tottenham get relegated, who will Arsenal’s biggest rivals be next season?
Signed as the newest ‘Fox in the Box’, Jeffers struggled massively with injuries and managed just a paltry eight goals in three horrendous seasons as an Arsenal player.
Jeffer had a loan spell back with Everton, before moving permanently to Charlton and then making his way down the leagues. He simply never replicated the goalscoring form he’d shown as a youngster, and only managed five goals despite more than 50 appearances at Sheffield Wednesday.
Put simply, Francis Jeffers is one of Arsenal’s worst ever signings.
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
