Ronaldo, Messi & eight players who almost joined Arsenal
FT Desk
- Updated: 9 Nov 2021 12:29 GMT
- 5 min read
Arsenal have signed some of the greatest players in the history of English football, with the likes of Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Dennis Bergkamp all delighting audiences this century.
However, the Gunners have also missed out on some other legendary names in recent years.
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Football Transfers looks at eight stars who could have signed for Arsenal since the turn of the millennium.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Arsenal tried to buy Cristiano Ronaldo from Sporting Lisbon in the summer of 2003, just hours before he moved to Man Utd.
Former Gunners CEO David Dein explained the full story of their Ronaldo near-miss during an event in November 2021.
“He was 17 and spotted by our chief scout [Francis Cagigao]. Arsene said: ‘Look, do you want to go over and see him play?’ I said: ‘Yeah sure, I’ll go across’.
“I went with our chief scout and I remember seeing the Portuguese Under-19 team play and Cristiano did really well. We had a dinner at a sort of a curb-side restaurant. He was a really nice guy and he actually gave me his shirt. It’s one of several shirts that I’ve got hanging in my cupboard at home. He gave me his shirt that he played in.
“We discussed a little bit of money and the agent said: ‘Well, let him think about it overnight’. Then Cristiano said: ‘I’ve got to go now, my bus is going’.
“He jumped on his bus and he went home. The following day I was discussing with the agent and about six hours later Manchester United blew us out of the water.
“That was the Cristiano Ronaldo story. I think we were being used a little bit as a stalking house, because I think he was always going to go to Manchester United at the time.”
Lionel Messi
Wenger revealed in November 2021 that he attempted to sign Lionel Messi in 2003 during the same summer that he brought another wonderkid in Cesc Fabregas to the club.
“Messi we were interested in, but it was not possible,” Wenger revealed at the London Palladium.
“They [Barcelona] had Fabregas, Messi and [Gerard] Pique in the same generation. We tried to get [them]. Messi was not possible, Barcelona extended it [his contract]. Fabregas wanted to leave, Pique as well.
“He [Pique] landed at Manchester United and Cesc joined us. I refuse to go into that game, because if I go into my room and write on the wall all the players I miss out on, I don’t finish well my life.”
Luis Suarez
Arsenal thought they were about to sign Luis Suarez from Liverpool in the summer of 2013 when they tabled a bid of £40m plus one penny.
The Gunners believed this would trigger the Uruguayan’s release clause but Liverpool held firm despite the attacker’s desire to move to London.
Suarez stayed for one more year at Liverpool before joining Barcelona a year later.
N’Golo Kante
Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger revealed in 2017 that he attempted to sign Kante before he joined Leicester from Caen in 2015.
Wenger also tried to buy Kante a year later when he left Leicester for Chelsea in a big-money move.
"I tried to sign Kante when he was in France and when he was at Leicester," said Wenger. "We can't explain everything - transfers are transfers - but it’s quite obvious when you look at where he has gone. I believe Kante has had a huge impact. It's no coincidence Chelsea are where they are and Leicester did what they did."
Vincent Kompany
Arsenal tried to sign Manchester City legend Vincent Kompany in 2006 after he had burst onto the scene at Anderlecht.
The then-20-year-old strongly considered the Gunners but instead joined Hamburg as he wanted first-team football.
“I had meetings with Arsene Wenger himself at Arsenal,” Kompany’s agent at the time Jacques Lichtenstein said. “But heading to an absolute top club immediately was not the right solution because Vincent is someone who feels alone in an environment where he is not properly valued.”
Paul Pogba
One of the greatest Bosman Transfers in football history came in the summer of 2012 when Juventus signed Paul Pogba for free from Man Utd.
Pogba would soon develop into one of the best players in the world in Turin, prompting Man Utd to re-sign him for over €100m four years later.
But Arsenal attempted to capture Pogba on a Bosman themselves back in that summer of 2012.
"Things happened very quickly," Wenger explained in 2014. "We were interested in him. We tried to get him to come here, but he very quickly signed for Juventus."
Yaya Toure
Wenger has often said that one of the biggest regrets of his career was the bureaucratic problems that prevented him signing Yaya Toure in 2003.
Arsenal had agreed a deal to sign Yaya from Beveren and he even appeared for the Gunners in a pre-season friendly against Barnet. However, due to passport trouble the transfer was cancelled and he signed for Metalurh Donetsk instead.
"It would be up at the top of my list of regrets," Wenger admitted. "He had an agreement with us – and it's not because we didn't want to sign him that he went to Ukraine."
Jadon Sancho
Jadon Sancho quit Manchester City for Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2017, believing the club would offer him a better chance of fulfilling his undoubted potential.
Sancho was a massive hit in the Bundesliga – before returning to Manchester with Man Utd this past summer – but Arsenal had tried to take him from City themselves.
"I wanted to take him from Man City when he didn't get the games," Wenger told beIN Sports. "I tried to lure him because he's from London. I tried to get him to Arsenal."
