Having looked a snip following his World Cup performances in 2006, Rosicky has seen his progression in England hampered by a knee injury.
Known as ‘Little Mozart’ for the way he orchestrated Borussia Dortmund’s midfield with his crisp passing and eye for the spectacular, the Czech international has failed to consistently pick up the baton since.
Regarded as the natural successor to midfield goal machine Robert Pires, the £6.8m Rosicky made an early impact with a wondrous strike against Hamburg in the Champions League in September 2006, but has since struggled to find the net on a regular basis. A nagging knee injury kept him out of action from January until the end of the 2007/08 campaign, his absence coinciding with the fizzling out of Arsenal’s season.