In December 2002, Arsene Wenger announced the signing of a young Swiss defender by the name of Philippe Senderos. After spending his first season on loan in Switzerland, Senderos eventually came back to Arsenal and enjoyed a promising start to his career with the Gunners. Little did Wenger know that this mean faced, giant sized centre back would become the butt of football related jokes for years to come.

The belief in Switzerland is one of surprise that one of their most favoured players has failed to become a success in England. In 2006, the combination of Senderos’s power and Kolo Toure’s pace helped Arsenal all the way to the Champions League Final. The young Swiss defender was then handed the number 6 shirt at Arsenal and looked to be set to play a big part in the future of the club. The transfer of Ashley Cole to Chelsea with William Gallas travelling the other way would prove to be the start of his downfall. Senderos was third choice and subsequently failed to continue the form he showed in previous seasons. After a number of high-profile errors, Senderos’s name was being used in the same bracket as that of Titus Bramble and he would never fully recover.

After another disappointing season he decided to signal his desire to leave Arsenal in a summer in which they had lost Gilberto Silva, Hleb and Flamini already. He signed a 1 year loan deal with AC Milan with a view to a permanent deal. Surely he had given up hope of regular football whilst Gallas and Toure were at the club. Irony, as it always does, decides to appear in these situations. Gallas and Toure never looked solid, and when Manchester City’s new found millions came calling, Wenger was resigned to sell Toure. But where was Senderos to finally take up his chance?

After no doubt disappointing a manager who had shown him faith in previous years, Senderos was no longer in the picture as Wenger decided to spend in the form of Thomas Vermaelen. At a club where young players are cherished, it was Senderos who was unable to see that eventually his time would come. Greed or ambition? It’s hard to tell.

The worrying thing for ‘Big Philippe’ is if he looks at his former team-mate Mathieu Flamini and realises what has happened to his career since leaving Arsenal. None the less, he begins a new chapter at Everton. With it comes a lot of pressure, but more importantly, a new opportunity to prove the doubters and jokers wrong.