Arsenal
boss Arsene Wenger has named many players in the past that he almost signed, including current stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi when they were
young, but failed, however.
Below is the Arsenal eleven of almost signed players who are now stars.
Joe Hart
Manchester City current first choice keeper Joe Hart is the man was almost signed by
Arsenal before becoming a star for the Citizens.
Vincent Kompany
Another
Manchester City star and current skipper Vincent Kompany is included in this
lineup. Wenger watched him or a long time but failed to sign him in the end.
Gerard Pique
Gerard
Pique failed to sign a deal with Gunners due to work permit issue. Arsenal
signed Philippe Senderos later.
Roberto Carlos
The
former Real Madrid star Roberto Carlos had a dream to play for Gunners but
after his Real contract Turkish outfit Fenerbahçe beat the Gunners to land the
Brazilian.
Angel Di Maria
Wenger
was linked with Angel Di Maria when he was a teenager. Work Permit was likely to
be his problem that time.
Xabi Alonso
Xabi
Alonso was strongly linked with Arsenal but the Gunners were unable to meet
Liverpool demands back in 2008. A year later he moved to Real Madrid for a fee
around £30million.
Yaya Toure
This
was the mistake that Arsenal made. They failed to seal his move despite of
having his brother Kolo Toure in their squad. The Ivorian moved to Moncao then Barcelona
and finally is at Manchester City.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Three
time Balloon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo was also linked with the Gunners
before his move to Manchester United from Sporting Lisbon in 2003.
Lionel Messi
Spanish
football pundit Guillem Balague revealed that Arsenal offered Lionel Messi when
he was 15-year-old. They succeeded in signing Cesc Fabregas but failed to land
the four time Ballon d’Or winner.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Wenger
offered Zlatan Ibrahimovic a trial at Arsenal which was denied by him and
later he decided to join Dutch side Ajax.
Wayne Rooney
Wenger
was a big admirer of Wayne Rooney but Sir Alex Ferguson beat him to sign Rooney
from Everton, he is now the captain of Manchester United.
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