Arsenal’s recent upturn in form over the past two years has seen them attract several sought-after stars to the Emirates Stadium, such as Declan Rice. Though their lure is nothing new and they have come incredibly close to securing the signature of some of the best players to ever grace a football pitch, including Lionel Messi.
Throughout his time with the Gunners, Arsene Wenger was very public about players that his side had targeted and would rarely shy away from vocally admitting defeat on some transfer pursuits – sometimes to his own detriment.
The Arsenal legend has spoken about numerous players over the years and how close he came to managing them in North London, and supporters may have enjoyed considerably more success if each pursuit resulted in targeted players signing on the dotted line.
Express Sport takes a look at 15 players who came close to joining Arsenal but never made the move…
Ronaldinho came close to heading to the Premier League on several occassions in his career, with Arsenal a potential destination too. Wenger explained: “We could have got Ronaldinho before he went to PSG.
“I met his brother, who is his agent, a long, long time before he went to PSG – when he was 20 – but we just could not get him to England because of the rules here. Basically, what the rule does is force you to wait to buy the player but, by then, you cannot afford him anymore. He had not played enough games for Brazil to get a work permit over here.”
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