TOP 10 PLAYERS ARSENE WENGER CLAIMED HE LOOKED AT BUT DIDN’T SIGN!
THERE ARE SOME WORLD CLASS PLAYERS IN THIS LIST!
SillySeason look at the top 10 players Arsene Wenger claimed he looked at but didn’t sign…
10) Joe Hart
The England international would have solved Arsenal’s goalkeeping crisis before Petr Cech arrived at the Emirates Stadium.
Wenger recalled: “I remember when Hart played at Birmingham, I asked about him and they told me he is at Man City.
“I thought he would be the keeper there. He has something that is needed for a goalkeeper to play at a big club.”
9) Yaya Toure
Arsenal have needed a midfielder with power and strength ever since Patrick Vieira left and they could have had one of the strongest midfielders around.
Wenger said: “It would be up at the top [of my list of regrets]. He had an agreement with us – and it’s not because we didn’t want to sign him that he went to Ukraine.”
However, passport paperwork denied Toure from joining Arsenal.
8) Dimitri Payet
Payet went from being hero to zero at West Ham United but Wenger looked at him ‘many times’ but he decided to not go ahead with it because he was inconsistent.
7) Gianluigi Buffon
Buffon and Wenger went out for a meal while the Italian goalkeeper was at Parma, and the manager wanted to find a good replacement for David Seaman.
Juventus beat Arsenal in the chase for his signature though, paying £32.6million to bring him to the Italian giants in 2001.
6) Didier Drogba
Drogba scored 15 goals in 16 games against Arsenal, but he could have played for them instead. Wenger admitted he regretted not signing the striker, he said: I missed him when he played in France at Le Mans – not even in the top league.
“I knew he was good player there and I missed him. And secondly because he hurt us so much in big games that all this pain would not have happened.”
5) Paul Pogba
Manchester United’s £89million world record-fee holder could have been at the Gunners early in his career.
Wenger revealed: “Things happened very quickly.
“We were interested in him. We tried to get him to come here, but he very quickly signed for Juventus.”
4) Zlatan Ibrahimovic
The story of the former Sweden captain not doing a trial at Arsenal because ‘he doesn’t do auditions’ is not 100% correct.
The Gunners wanted to sign the target man when he was young but Malmo’s director of football Hasse Borg advised Ibrahimovic to reject it and told Wenger that he either wanted to buy the Swede or he didn’t.
3) Luis Suarez
The Gunners made a £40,000,001 bid for the Uruguay captain when he was at Liverpool, thinking his release clause would be triggered as a result. Reds owner John Henry was angered by the offer.
Wenger was asked if he ever thought about what might have been if he had signed the striker, he said: “Not now. It happened to me before but now now.”
2) Lionel Messi
When Cesc Fabregas joined the Gunners, Marca claimed that Lionel Messi and Gerard Pique almost went with him.
Journalist Guillem Balague stated that Messi decided to stay in Spain because Arsenal didn’t find a flat for his family.
1) Cristiano Ronaldo
The Arsenal gaffer says his biggest regret is not signing Ronaldo when he had the chance, with the Portugal captain going on to become the best player in the world.
Wenger added: “I showed him around and I gave him a shirt. It had his name on the back.
“But in the end it was a question of the transfer fee between the two clubs.”
Top 10 players Arsene Wenger claimed he looked at but didn’t sign:
10) Joe Hart
9) Yaya Toure
8) Dimitri Payet
7) Gianluigi Buffon
6) Didier Drogba
5) Paul Pogba
4) Zlatan Ibrahimovic
3) Luis Suarez
2) Lionel Messi
1) Cristiano Ronaldo
By Drew Darbyshire (@DarbySports)