Paolo Di Canio

A veritable genius, Paolo is the one man who excited the West Ham United faithful and made the side tick. He was again in breathtaking form in 2000-01, showing off a fine array of skills and creating numerous scoring opportunities for his colleagues.

Among his many fine goals there were three amazing efforts: at Charlton Athletic where he rode one tackle and crashed an unstoppable 18-yarder into the roof of the net; at Manchester United in the FA Cup tie when he ignored offside claims and coolly slotted the ball home to earn the Hammers a surprise victory; and in the final home game against Southampton when he picked up on the ball on the edge of the area, ghosted past two defenders before tucking it in the corner of the net.

As ever, Paolo always came up with the unexpected and when Everton goalkeeper Paul Gerrard lay injured on the ground, he opted to catch the ball rather than take the easy option of tapping into an empty net. His decision won plaudits from FIFA president Sepp Blatter, but Hammers' boss Harry Redknapp was probably not so gushing in praise of his maverick striker.

Paolo joined Charlton Athletic in August 2003 on a one-year contract.