The nervous Frenchman’s Arsenal career did not match that of his fellow compatriot – while Laurent Koscielny thrived, Sebastian wobbled. Commanding a £4 million transfer fee, Squillaci joined a long line of Frenchmen recruited by Arsene Wenger, and he was to provide seemingly apt backup for Koscielny and Thomas Vermaelen, having been first choice for solid outfits such as Sevilla and Monaco.
While Arsene is used to manufacturing stars, occassionally he has the tendency to ruin a player or two – or perhaps Squillaci was just a poor fit for an English club. Even before his career began, he seemed doomed, inheriting the #18 shirt from the defensive legends that were Mikael Silvestre and Pascal Cygan. His style of play was supposedly similar to Per Mertesacker’s – not a great deal of pace, but very able to read the game and intercept suitably.
2010-11; his first season, saw him featured a bit more often than fans and the manager would have liked, due to a Vermaelen injury. A few high profile mistakes created a somewhat edgy demeanour which would surround Squillaci for the remainder of his Arsenal career. 32 appearances, including a captain’s outing at Stamford Bridge and the nodding in the winner away at Stoke, meant that his season was not rendered all that disastrous.
2011-12 was a different story. Now 4th choice centre back due to the arrival of big Per, his mistakes were not forgotten, and often repeated throughout this season. Brought on against Fulham at 1-1, Arsenal fans will vividly remember his shocking clearance which fell to Zamora and provided an open goal. The incompetency did not end there, netting past his own keeper in the FA Cup. His appearances sharply dropped to just six in 2011-12, and just the one in 2012-13, a dead rubber against Olympiakos, before being quietly released.
And thus concluded Sebastian Squillaci’s Arsenal career – it was just never going to work. He’s not a bad player, as shown as part of a current top 10 Ligue 1 backline, but English football didn’t treat him well.
