18 Top players Arsenal nearly signed

18 Top players Arsenal nearly signed

Matt Morley 6 years ago 6.3k |

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Arsene Wenger has come close to signing some of the best players in world football. AFP

After Arsene Wenger revealed that Arsenal were close to signing precocious teen star Kylian Mbappe last year, we take a look at some of the other players the 'Gunners' have missed out on over the years.

Goalkeeper: Joe Hart

Wenger revealed in 2011 that he asked after Hart when he was on loan at Birmingham.

Defender: Gerard Pique

Wenger: It was at a period where Fabregas came. We wanted to take Fabregas, Messi and Pique.

Defender: Vincent Kompany

Kompany's agent: I had meetings with Emilio Butragueno at Real Madrid, the club leaders at Barcelona and by Arsene Wenger himself at Arsenal.

Defender: Raphael Varane

Wenger had his eye on Varane when he played for Lens in his homeland.

Midfield: N'Golo Kante

Wenger: I tried to sign Kante when he was in France and when he was at Leicester.

Midfield: Paul Pogba

Wenger: We were interested in him. We tried to get him to come here. But he very quickly signed for Juventus.

Midfield: Yaya Toure

Wenger: Let's not forget that Toure had an agreement with us.

Forward: Lionel Messi

Wenger: It was at a period where Fabregas came. We wanted to take Fabregas, Messi and Pique.

Forward: Cristiano Ronaldo

Wenger: My biggest regret, I was so close to signing Cristiano Ronaldo

Striker: Kylian Mbappe

Wenger: Well, I believe that we were on the case last year. He was close to joining us.

Striker: Luis Suarez

Wenger: He was very close. We had an agreement with the player.

Sub: Thomas Lemar

Wenger: €100m (£92m) for Lemar? Yes all true, I wanted him.

Sub: Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Ibrahimovic: Zlatan doesn't do auditions.

Sub: Dimitri Payet

Wenger: He was a top talent, always. But [he] had periods of being up and down. I've looked at him many times.

Sub: Gareth Bale

Wenger: We didn't take him as we had Ashley Cole and Gael Clichy and didn't want another left-back. I must confess it was a huge mistake as he can play in midfield.

Sub: Ronaldinho

Wenger: We could have got Ronaldinho before he went to PSG.

Sub: Didier Drogba

Wenger: We watched Drogba very carefully when he was at Le Mans and his value was just £100,000. But we felt at the time he might not be completely ready… Looking back now, of course it was a mistake.

Sub: Dele Alli

Wenger admitted to scouting the player on many occasions when he was at MK Dons.