1) Thierry Henry (Arsenal, 2007)
Thierry Henry may not have had his most effective season in an Arsenal shirt in his final year with the club, but the Gunners still coped remarkably well to lose such an iconic figure and world class goalscorer. Arsene Wenger’s side finished fourth in Henry’s last year with them, but mounted a much stronger title challenge the following season and although they only moved up one place to third, they were much closer to the top two and looked a more balanced side overall, even without spending big on a replacement for the Frenchman.