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Updated October 22nd, 2019 at 23:31 IST

Arsene Wenger: Superstars whom the Arsenal manager almost signed up

Arsene Wenger, who turned 70 on Tuesday, has signed lots of superstars during his long spell at Arsenal. But he even closely missed out on some players.

Reported by: Abhishek Shetty
Arsene Wenger
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Arsene Wenger celebrated his 70th-birthday on October 22, 2019. The Frenchman managed the Premier League club, Arsenal, for 22 years. During his long term in London, he managed to get in many legendary players for Arsenal. But there is also a long list of superstars, whom Wenger almost got hold of. Let's have a look at those players who could have been seen wearing the famous red jersey if events would have taken a different turn. 

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Four Players Whom Arsene Wenger Almost Signed

Gianluigi Buffon

According to reports, 20-year old Gianluigi Buffon was considering a move from his then club Parma and Arsene Wenger showed massive interest in signing the legendary goalkeeper in 1998. The Frenchman was so interested in getting hold of the goalkeeper that they even had one dinner together to seal the deal. But Buffon remained at Parma for three years before moving to Juventus in 2001 for £32m.

Gareth Bale

In one of his interviews in 2013, Arsene Wenger admitted that Arsenal did not sign Gareth Bale because they had Ashley Cole and Gael Clichy and didn't want another left-back. He confessed that it was a huge mistake as Bale could also play in the midfield. Wenger further explained that Bale struggled at the start in Tottenham and then when he moved to midfield, he performed exceptionally well. 

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N"Golo Kante

Arsene Wenger revealed in 2017 that Arsenal made two attempts to sign N'Golo Kante. Wenger stated that he tried to sign Kante when he was in France and playing at Leicester City. Wenger explained that transfers can get very complicated sometimes and that shows when you look at the club he finally signed for. Wenger rated Kante highly and said that Chelsea grew as a team after signing him.. 

Cristiano Ronaldo

Almost every Premier League fan would know that Arsene Wenger was really close on signing Cristiano Ronaldo once. Ronaldo during his recent interview with British television anchor Piers Morgan also admitted that he was very close and a step away from signing for the Gunners. Ronaldo further said that even though the transfer didn't take place, he appreciates what Arsenal did for him, especially Arsene Wenger in the initial stage of his career.

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Other Players Who Were Close To Getting Signed:

  1. Lionel Messi
  2. Kylian Mbappe
  3. Jadon Sancho
  4. Paul Pogba
  5. Gerard Pique
  6. Vincent Kompany
  7. Raphael Varane

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Published October 22nd, 2019 at 19:27 IST

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