Former Arsenal scout Francis Cagigao has revealed that Arsenal came ‘very, very close’ to signing Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique and Juan Mata when speaking to The Guardian.
The 51-year-old said: ‘Messi, [Gerard] Piqué, [Juan] Mata were very, very close and there were others. With Messi, work permit issues ensured we couldn’t get as close as we would have liked.
And that’s all I can say on that. A lot get away – two, three, four a year – but I prefer to look at the ones we did get.’
Cagigao was the man who discovered the likes of Robin van Persie, Santi Cazorla, Kieran Tierney, Cesc Fabregas, Gabriel Martinelli and Hector Bellerin according to The Guardian’s article, so he definitely has the eye for a good player.
Just imagine how Arsenal’s team would’ve looked if Arsene Wenger had managed to get his hands on Messi, Pique and Mata.
The latter duo have won the World Cup during their careers, as well as the European Championships among countless titles at club level.
In Messi’s case, what hasn’t he won? The dimintuve Argentina international has scooped up six Ballon d’Or awards, while also winning the Champions League on four occasions.
However, as Cagigao states, it’s better to look at who he did bring in – bemoaning his inability to sign the aforementioned trio would be doing a disservice to his 24 years of work for Arsenal.
The likes of Van Persie, Fabregas and Cazorla are embedded in Arsenal’s folklore, and were all signed as relatively unknown players.
For the Paddington-born scout to be able to discover this calibre of player takes some doing, and it’s a shame to see that he is no longer employed by the Gunners.
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