Report: Arsenal seriously tried to re-sign Ismael Bennacer

Arsenal were seriously interested in re-signing midfielder Ismael Bennacer before he chose to extend his contract with AC Milan.

The Gunners were keen to add another midfielder during the January transfer window.

Jorginho ended up arriving from Chelsea on deadline day, but only after a failed pursuit of Moises Caicedo.

It now seems that Arsenal also fancied landing their former midfielder Ismael Bennacer.

Calciomercato claim that Arsenal ‘seriously’ tried to sign Bennacer and lure him back to North London.

However, Bennacer was completely convinced that he can win trophies with AC Milan.

Bennacer chose to sign a new deal with Milan in January, committing his future to the club despite Arsenal’s interest.

Whether the Gunners are still keen is unclear but Bennacer is allegedly untouchable even if Milan go through some major changes this summer.

Arsenal may have slipped up on Ismael Bennacer

Bennacer emerged with his hometown club Arles before joining Arsenal back in 2015.

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Arsene Wenger thought very highly of Bennacer, calling him a ‘fighter’ and a ‘very efficient player’.

Bennacer only made one first-team appearance for Arsenal though and spent some time out on loan at Tours back in France.

Arsenal sold Bennacer to Empoli in 2017 for just £900,000 and he ended up becoming a star over in Italy.

AC Milan pounced to sign Bennacer in 2019, but only after Arsenal refused to make a bid.

Unai Emery and co seemingly felt that Bennacer wasn’t worth bringing back to North London despite holding a clause to match any bids for him.

Calciomercato added that Emery specifically ‘ignored’ Bennacer at the time.

Bennacer has continued to move his career forward and is now one of the top midfielders in Italian football.

Maybe Bennacer wouldn’t have become this good without that Gunners exit and he needed that move for his development.

To pass on him in 2019 seems like a mistake though and January’s snub means Arsenal may have missed their window of opportunity to bring him back.