Drogba for £100,000… Wenger wasn’t convinced!
Arsenal have spent big money on two players in recent years – £42.5m on Mesut Ozil and £30m on Alexis Sanchez.
Ozil and Alexis are both very talented, but neither would get a game if Arsene Wenger had been successful in signing this lot…
GK: Petr Cech
Cech signed for Chelsea from Rennes in 2004 and he has gone on to become one of the best goalkeepers in Premier League history. However, Arsenal tried to sign him way back – before he even joined Rennes. Unfortunately, the Gunners could not get a work permit.
CB: Gerard Pique
Wenger tried to pinch Pique, Cesc Fabregas and Lionel Messi from Barcelona’s youth team. He was only able to sign Fabregas.
CB: Vincent Kompany
Kompany is now captain of Manchester City, but it could have turned out very differently for the big Belgian. Wenger held talks him in 2006, before he eventually moved to Hamburg from Anderlecht.
DM: Yaya Toure
The Ivorian midfielder had a trial at Arsenal in 2003. He even played for the Gunners in a friendly against Barnet. Wenger, who already had brother Kolo in his squad, was very keen to sign Yaya, but work permit problems got in the way.
DM: Claude Makelele
Wenger almost signed Makelele as a 23-year-old in August 1996, but he didn’t seal the deal. The French midfielder, who defined the anchor man role throughout his career, went to play for Marseille, Celta Vigo, Real Madrid and Chelsea.
RM: Angel Di Maria
Those bloody work permits again! They stopped Arsenal signing Di Maria on a free transfer when he was 17. The former Real Madrid midfielder cost Manchester United £59.7m this summer.
LM: Gareth Bale
Bale is the world’s most expensive footballer, having joined Real Madrid from Spurs for around £85m in September 2013. The Welshman is now a world class attacking midfielder, but that has not always been his position. In 2006, Wenger decided against moving for Bale, because ‘he didn’t need another left-back’!
CF: Cristiano Ronaldo
Ronaldo was apparently so close to signing for Arsenal in 2003 that he even had a Gunners shirt printed with ‘Ronaldo 9’ on the back. However, he ended up at rivals Manchester United, after Carlos Queiroz convinced him to move to Old Trafford.
CF: Lionel Messi
As we mentioned earlier, Messi was targeted by Wenger at the same time Fabregas came to Arsenal. It has been reported that the Barcelona and Argentina legend would have signed for the Gunners had they bought him a flat in London.
ST: Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Wenger offered Zlatan a trial when he was 16.
The Swede (picture above in a Gunners shirt) said no thanks…
Zlatan does not do trials.
ST: Didier Drogba
Wenger considered signing Drogba for £100,000 from Le Mans, but he thought better of it – oops!
Drogba went on to join Marseille and then Chelsea for £24m in 2004.
