Arsenal lately skilled the Kardashian curse in 2023, however virtually a decade earlier than that they have been first given a headache by one other Kim Okay.
The Gunners fell foul to the household sideshow disrupting their title problem two seasons in the past once they grew to become one other workforce whose trophy hopes light after having Kim Kardashian at their stadium.
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But it was Swede Kim Kallstrom who arguably gave them their worst self-inflicted blow.
Arsenal have been high of the Premier League in 2014 beneath Arsene Wenger when issues threatened to derail in a matter of weeks.
Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey each picked up medium-term accidents, and when Mathieu Flamini joined them on the sidelines with a suspension there was just one piece of excellent information.
That excellent news was that the January switch window was nonetheless open, permitting Wenger and the membership’s administration to aim to sort things with a last-minute signing.
The title they stumbled on was that of Kallstrom, and on the face of it, it made some sense.
The Swede had properly over 100 caps for his nationwide workforce and buckets of elite stage expertise from his 5 seasons with Lyon, successful Ligue 1 twice whereas the workforce recurrently went deep within the Champions League.
His profession was beginning to wind down at this level, taking part in in Russia with Spartak Moscow, however an opportunity to return to the highest stage for a title problem was a no brainer, and one he duly accepted.
Versatile in midfield and a frontrunner on the high stage, the deal was finished on mortgage till the top of the season, and may have at a minimal patched up the Flamini formed gap within the squad.
Kallstrom arrived, handed his medical and informed the membership’s media channels he was ‘going to do his greatest to assist out the membership’.
Nevertheless, the center state of affairs of these three ended up being a big embarrassment.
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Because it turned out the 31-year-old did move his medical, however very doubtless shouldn’t have.
The membership admitted {that a} scan picked up a broken vertebrae, one thing he’d picked up whereas taking part in seashore soccer whereas on heat climate coaching with Spartak in Abu Dhabi.
But such was the push to get a physique by the door on deadline day, the deal was rushed by, and immediately regretted.
Arsenal needed to begrudgingly reveal that Kallstrom can be out for six weeks, by which era Flamini had been again lengthy sufficient to render the transfer virtually pointless.
The previous Lyon man would debut on schedule on the finish of March, however quickly after he was not wanted, as he featured simply seven extra instances with the Gunners’ title bid already over.
Admitting a serious cock-up had taken place through the saga, Wenger candidly mentioned: “It crossed my thoughts to not do the deal.
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“I would not have signed him if we had one other two or three days, nevertheless it was on Friday at 5pm.
“We have to set up the true reality. He arrived and had fallen on his again two days earlier than.”
To their credit score, membership executives not less than bought a few of their a refund, with Wenger explaining: “We accepted to share the prices, so they may pay him for the primary six weeks of his wages.
“There is a chance he is not going to play, but in addition a chance he’ll rating a significant successful objective.”
Kallstrom didn’t rating a successful objective, however he did discover the online in a second that he might argue made all of it price it.
Subbed on for the ultimate minute of additional time in an FA Cup semi-final tie in opposition to Wigan, the Swede adopted present supervisor Mikel Arteta within the shoot-out and blasted previous Scott Carson.
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Arsenal gained the penalties, after which the ultimate in opposition to Hull to carry silverware at Wembley.
Kallstrom didn’t characteristic in that ultimate success, however he did get a winner’s medal, the proper memento for a weird six-month journey to London that ought to have by no means taken place.