Both Arsenal and their North London rivals missed out on signing new England star Nathaniel Clyne, something they are both now regretting…
Southampton’s Nathaniel Clyne finally seems to be getting some recognition with a well deserved England call up, but he apparently came very close to signing for both Arsenal and Tottenham.
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The London clubs missed out on signing him at different stages in his career, and they may be regretting their decisions right now with both teams suffering from a severe lack of options at right-back.
Clyne had a trial with Arsenal when he was just ten-years-old, he wasn’t kept on by the Gunners however due to his small stature. He scored four goals during his short spell with the club, but they had too many reservations about the youngster and so decided to pass up the opportunity.
The 23-year-old was also watched by Tottenham on a number of occasions, but despite some serious interest from the London club they failed to act before Clyne was picked up by Crystal Palace.
The Southampton man’s former youth coach Steadman Scott spoke highly of the player, claiming that Arsenal missed a step by not signing him when he was ten.
“When he was 10 I sent him up to Arsenal for a trial,” he told the Guardian. “He was a winger at the time and I told him: ‘Take on players, score goals. Don’t go thinking you’re there to have a good time, son. You’re going there to make an impact. It’s one chance.'”
“He came back and told me he’d scored four, but Arsenal reckoned he was too small. I still remind them of that when their scouts come down: we sent you Nat and now you’d pay a lot of money for him, and he’s just knocked you out of the League Cup.”
“Spurs had a look at him, along with Zaine [Francis-Angol], and liked him. But a while later Scannell, who was at Palace by then, told me: ‘Clyne’s up here and really shocking out the youth team.'”
Clyne should get his first England cap against either San Marino or Estonia, and with England also lacking in the right-back department at the moment he has a fantastic chance to make that position his own.