Arsenal’s recent upturn in form over the past two years has seen them attract several sought-after stars to the Emirates Stadium, such as Declan Rice. Though their lure is nothing new and they have come incredibly close to securing the signature of some of the best players to ever grace a football pitch, including Lionel Messi.
Throughout his time with the Gunners, Arsene Wenger was very public about players that his side had targeted and would rarely shy away from vocally admitting defeat on some transfer pursuits – sometimes to his own detriment.
The Arsenal legend has spoken about numerous players over the years and how close he came to managing them in North London, and supporters may have enjoyed considerably more success if each pursuit resulted in targeted players signing on the dotted line.
Express Sport takes a look at 15 players who came close to joining Arsenal but never made the move…
Although he has struggled at Manchester United, Jadon Sancho is still a talented forward… and he almost joined Arsenal after it became clear that he was leaving Manchester City in 2017. Wenger told beIN Sports: “I wanted to take him from Man City when he didn’t get the games. I tried to lure him because he’s from London. I tried to get him to Arsenal.”
Ronaldinho came close to heading to the Premier League on several occassions in his career, with Arsenal a potential destination too. Wenger explained: “We could have got Ronaldinho before he went to PSG.
“I met his brother, who is his agent, a long, long time before he went to PSG – when he was 20 – but we just could not get him to England because of the rules here. Basically, what the rule does is force you to wait to buy the player but, by then, you cannot afford him anymore. He had not played enough games for Brazil to get a work permit over here.”
Angel Di Maria did not have the best time in England, though his career could have panned out very differently if he joined Arsenal as a teenager. Wenger has spoken about how work permit issues prevented him from signing the forward when he was aged 17.
Paul Pogba remains one of the most expensive transfers all-time after joining United for £89.5million in 2016. However, the midfielder did hold talks with Arsenal before heading back to Old Trafford – Wenger explained a year later: “We tried to get him, but it was complicated. I was surprised to see Manchester let him go. We did not have the right to contact him.”
Yaya Toure almost joined Arsenal as a free agent before his career truly took off at Barcelona. The midfielder played a trial match against Barnet in 2003 but was ruled ‘completely average’ by Wenger.
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