When a transfer announcement sends tingles down your spine and leaves a smile on your face for weeks then you know it’s something special. I’m old enough and lucky enough to have experienced that sensation on a number of occasions. So, as we sit by our computers this summer waiting to be transported into football heaven by the news of a stunning new signing for the Arse, it seems like a good moment to consider some of those great out-of-the-blue transfers of years past.

To be clear, I do not mean the signing of players who turned out to be brilliant – so there’s no room here for Thierry Henry (who arrived after being a bit-part winger during France’s ’98 WC win) or Patrick Vieira (rescued from anonymity and mediocrity in Italy). We certainly welcomed those signings and hoped they would turn out for the best, but we hardly thought “that’s it – the title’s in the bag.” I’m talking about how things felt at the very moment the player was signed, without the benefit of hindsight.

So here goes: in reverse order, the 10 most exciting incoming transfers in my Arsenal supporting memory.

10.  David Seaman (from QPR,...