One Arsene Wenger signing was so bad that Man United players actually taunted Arsenal

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There are few Arsenal icons as charismatic as Ray Parlour, making the Romford legend a top storyteller.

Parlour is a record-holder at Arsenal to this day, having made the most Premier League appearances for the Gunners.

The ever-reliable midfielder won an array of silverware in North London, including three Premier League titles and the European Cup Winners’ Cup.

Despite hanging his boots up in 2012, Parlour still keeps up with everything Arsenal, sharing his opinions on his former club as a pundit and fan. 

Ray Parlour recalls how bad Igors Stepanovs was at Arsenal 

Parlour was an imposing figure in the Arsenal dressing room, which is sometimes difficult to believe when listening to some of the comical stories he tells about his time at Highbury.

One of the best, but arguably worst from Arsene Wenger’s point of view, was the trials and tribulations of Igors Stepanovs’ Arsenal career. 

As noted in his book, The Romford Pele: It’s only Ray Parlour’s autobiography, Parlour reminisced on being taunted at Old Trafford because of his former teammate.

Parlour set the scene that Stepanovs was a level below others in the Arsenal squad, but due to an injury crisis, the Latvian was forced to start in several games, including a trip to Old Trafford in February 2001.

If being 5-1 down at half-time wasn’t humiliating enough, Parlour revealed that Dwight Yorke actually mocked how poor Stepanovs was.

“I remember doing the long walk to the tunnel alongside Dwight Yorke, and he asked: ‘Where the hell did you get that centre-half from?’ ‘Look,’ I said. ‘It’s a long story…’”

The ‘long story’ was one that Wenger will not look back fondly on, being pranked to sign the defender in a bizarre turn of events. 

Stepanovs’ transfer was all Dennis Bergkamp’s fault

If there was one player that Wenger always had, and still has, a weak spot for, it’s Dennis Bergkamp. 

The Dutchman was one of the best and an incredibly impressive trainer, but his work as a scout back in the day was not as celebrated.

Bergkamp urged Wenger to sign Stepanovs, as Parlour explained, with the reason being that the boss’s star player continually praised the Latvian while he was on trial. 

“Dennis Bergkamp was sitting behind Arsene and kept doling out these compliments about this defender – ‘Great header! Unbelievable tackle!’” Parlour said.

The Arsenal legend went on to suggest that for Wenger, whatever Bergkamp said was worth hearing. 

“If Dennis Bergkamp stands up and says: ‘What a player’, Arsene would be entitled to take a bit of notice. I suppose it looked like a bargain at around £1m.”

Stepanovs won’t have too many complaints from his Arsenal career, becoming a Premier League title winner before leaving the club permanently in 2004, playing the rest of his career in Switzerland, Denmark, Russia and Latvia.