The super Swede was, perhaps, just past his peak when he joined the Hammers after helping Arsenal to two Premier League titles, two FA Cups and a run through to the Champions League final in his nine years at the North London giants.
Ljungberg, who currently coaches Arsenal’s under-16s side, made 26 appearances in all competitions – scoring two goals.
Having initially signed a four-year deal with the club, he didn’t see it through.
Ljungberg broke his ribs in a coming together with Newcastle defender Steven Taylor during the 2007-08 campaign and was ruled out for the remainder of the season – and he mutually agreed to end of his contract that summer following his difficulty to recover.
He did though make a surprise comeback and went on to play for Seattle Sounders FC, Chicago Fire, Celtic, Shimizu S-Pulse and Mumbai City.
Here’s what other memorable sporting events happened on this day:
1949: Brian Close became England’s youngest Test cricketer when he made his debut against New Zealand at Old Trafford aged 18 years and 149 days. He played the last of his 22 Tests at the age of 46, some 27 years later.
1988: Greg LeMond won the Tour de France for the second time, beating Laurent Fignon by a mere eight seconds.
2000: Tiger Woods won the Open Championship at St Andrews by eight shots. The American, who a few months earlier had won the US Open by the biggest margin in major championship history, became only the fifth player to complete a career grand slam of major titles after his triumph at the home of golf.
2006: Woods won the Open Championship at Hoylake, just 11 weeks after the death of his father.
2006: American Floyd Landis won the Tour de France but later tested positive for a banned substance. After a long legal battle, he was eventually stripped of his title and banned for two years.
2010: France’s entire 23-man World Cup squad were suspended for the friendly game against Norway on August 11 after the controversy in South Africa which saw them stage a sit-in on the team bus.
2011: FIFA executive committee member Mohamed bin Hammam was banned from all international and national football activity for life after being found guilty of bribery.
2012: Cyclist Sir Chris Hoy was named as Great Britain’s flagbearer for the opening ceremony of London 2012. Hoy went on to win two gold medals at the Games, giving him six in total to make him Britain’s most successful Olympian of all time.
2014: The Commonwealth Games opened in Glasgow after a ceremony at Celtic Park that included performances by acts such as John Barrowman and Rod Stewart.
