Arsenal signed off at the Emirates Stadium for the season with a 1-0 win over Newcastle United and a confirmed place in the Champions League in 2025-26.
Gunners midfielder Declan Rice was on the scoresheet again as they secured second place behind Premier League champions Liverpool.
During the match broadcast on Sunday, the Sky Sports cameras in North London picked out a couple of former Arsenal stars and commentator Peter Drury acknowledged one of Rice’s predecessors in the middle of the park.
Gilberto Silva, now 48, scored the second league goal at the Emirates Stadium back in 2006 after Aston Villa icon Olof Mellberg had claimed the honour of bagging the first.
The Brazilian played 170 times in the Premier League for the Gunners and was a welcome guest of the club for their final home game of the season.
Drury and Sky Sports then moved on, leaving the man sitting next to Gilberto wholly unmentioned.
To Gilberto’s right, wearing the same blue Arsenal scarf, a very fetching hat, and dreadlocks that were not part of his look as an Arsenal player between 2004 and 2014, was 38-year-old Swiss former defender Johan Djourou.
It’s been suggested that Drury’s decision not to shout “JOHAN! Djourou” as if he were about to take a run-of-the-mill shot was because he didn’t recognise him. That’s understandable, though Djourou, crucially, still has the same face.
Born in Cote d’Ivoire, Djourou joined Arsenal’s ranks as a teenager and went on to have a very respectable career in the game.
Peter Drury (Image: @skysports & @nowtv)
As well as 86 league appearances for Arsenal, Djourou played for Hannover and Birmingham City on loan before a permanent switch to the Bundesliga with often hapless Hamburg.
He played in Turkey, Italy and Switzerland before a swansong spell in Denmark with Nordsjaelland.
Djourou has 86 international caps to his name as well as the headgear he wore to the Emirates on Sunday but apparently does not enjoy the notoriety required to warrant a mention from the most talkative commentator in football.
His former club now cannot be caught by Newcastle. Thanks to Sunday’s win they’re five points ahead of the Magpies with one game each left to play.
Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Premier League, Champions League, Arsenal, Sky Sports
