Rami Shaaban
Rami Shaaban's Arsenal career could have taken off had a broken leg not prematurely ended his Highbury spell.
The Swedish international was scouted from Djurgarden and was tipped as a potential replacement for David Seaman when he arrived in August 2002.
Profile |
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|---|---|
| Name | Rami Shaaban |
| Arsenal Career | 2002 - 2004 |
| Position: | Goalkeeper |
| Appearances | 5 (5 starts, 0 as a sub) |
| Goals | 0 |
But Shaaban, born to an Egyptian father and Finnish mother, struggled to oust the legendary England goalkeeper. He did feature three times in the Premier League, however, adding to a brace of Champions League appearances against PSV Eindhoven and AS Roma.
The Swede suffered a serious injury in training on Christmas Eve 2002 and it sidelined him for the remainder of the campaign. Shaaban made a full recovery but by that point Jens Lehmann had established himself as Arsenal's new No 1 after Seaman's retirement.
Shaaban agreed a permanent deal with Brighton following an unsuccessful loan spell with West Ham in 2004.