We’re gonna miss him saying stuff like this
Over the years Arsene Wenger has claimed that Arsenal were close – at one time or another – to signing pretty much every player who has ever raised their head above the plain of footballing mediocrity.
Whether it’s been Riyad Mahrez, N’golo Kante, Vincent Kompany or Paul Pogba, Wenger and Arsenal have reportedly spotted their potential and tried to sign them, before ultimately failing to succeed in doing so.
We can now add two more names that list after Wenger told Arsenal’s official website that he was close to signing both Lionel Messi AND Cristiano Ronaldo earlier in his Arsenal career.
The year was 2003, he claimed, and both players were but zygotes of unlimited potential compared to the full fledged walking, talking unlimited geniuses they have become today.
Asked by Arsenal.com about any notable players he missed out on during his time at the club, Wenger said:
“The obvious player that comes to mind is Ronaldo. He was here with his mother and we were very close. Then Man United came in and they had Carlos Queiroz at the time, who was their coach. United played against Sporting Lisbon and Ronaldo was outstanding and they signed him.
“There is always something you could have done differently but the problem of negotiations is to know when you give in and when you don’t give in. Once we were at £4.5m, we were still in negotiations. David [Dein] met with [Jorge] Mendes in Paris and he was representing Sporting, so we were very close but Man United went to £12m, which we could not afford.
“I met Cesc [Fàbregas’] parents and at the time we were interested in Messi and [Gerard] Piqué as well. We tried for the three but of course it didn’t work out, because of the agents. With Messi, Barcelona didn’t want to lose him of course and they made [the offer] that was needed to keep the player at the club.”
So there we have it. One of Arsene’s final acts as manager is saying how Arsenal could have signed Messi and Ronaldo but didn’t. Beautiful and fitting.
