During his 22-year reign at Arsenal, Arsène Wenger came extremely close to bringing some of football’s greatest ever players to north London.
Of course, the Frenchman pulled off a few of the best deals we’ve ever witnessed, such as the £11m signing of Thierry Henry, as well as Patrick Vieira for £13.7m – shrewd.
However, there were many collapsed deals which Wenger presumably still thinks about to this very day.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at who the 72-year-old nearly signed…
Arsenal XI of players Arsène Wenger almost signed
Gianluigi Buffon
Back in 2001, Gianluigi Buffon became the most expensive goalkeeper on the planet when he joined Juventus from Parma in a £23.3m deal.
However, Arsenal tried to sign the Italian before that move, with the iconic glovesman saying: “I remember when I was 20 years old in 1998, I had dinner once with Wenger.”
Gerard Pique
Interestingly, Gerard Pique could’ve been an Arsenal player right at the start of his career, as Wenger invited the World Cup winning Spaniard to London Colney in 2002.
Unfortunately, the centre-back joined Manchester United, before returning to Barcelona.
Vincent Kompany
When Sol Campbell was nearing the end of his prime, Wenger tracked a young Vincent Kompany as he rose through the ranks at Anderlecht.
Somehow, despite interest from Barcelona and Real Madrid as well, the Belgian joined Hamburg, before dominating England with Manchester City.
Raphael Varane
Before joining Real Madrid in 2011 and developing into one of Europe’s best, Arsenal actually bid for Raphael Varane 18 months prior to that switch.
Wenger even expressed his frustration at missing out, saying: “He was at Lens, and we might well have caught him there. Yet at the same time, when you are in charge of a club like Arsenal, you have to wonder why this player is not playing for us.” (ESPN)
Gareth Bale
Now, even Wenger himself called this one a “huge mistake”.
The Frenchman decided to turn down the chance to sign Gareth Bale, as he already had Gael Clichy and Ashley Cole in the left-back department.
Little did Wenger know, the Welshman would become one of the best forwards of all-time, rather than spend his playing days at left-back.
Yaya Toure
Arsenal had Kolo Toure, but they also could’ve had the Ivorian’s iconic brother, Yaya.
Wenger said the Gunners had an agreement with the Manchester City legend, but he opted to join Ukrainian side Metalurh Donetsk before finding fame at Barcelona.
“Let’s not forget that Toure had an agreement with us, and it’s not because we did not want to sign him that he went to Ukraine.”
Paul Pogba
When Paul Pogba saw his contract expire at Manchester United in 2012, Arsenal made an attempt to sign him on a free transfer.
Unfortunately, Juventus had already beaten them to his signature, with Wenger quoted as saying: “We tried to get him to come here. But he very quickly signed for Juventus.”
Jadon Sancho
“I wanted to take him.”
These were the words of Wenger when a young Jadon Sancho expressed a desire to leave Manchester City for more playing time.
Sadly, the England international chose Borussia Dortmund, where he then developed into a £73m superstar.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Now, this is probably the sorest one of them all.
Wenger admitted that Cristiano Ronaldo and his mother, Maria Dolores dos Santos Aveiro, were at Arsenal to discuss a deal during his days at Sporting Lisbon.
However, after Ronaldo shone for the Portuguese giants in a friendly against Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson swooped in and wrapped up a deal.
The prolific forward has since gone on to win six Ballon d’Ors and the Champions League on five occasions, while becoming the first to score 800 goals.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
“Zlatan doesn’t do auditions.”
These famous words probably still linger in Wenger’s head.
Arsenal had the precocious Swede in their grasp when he was 16, but when Wenger asked him to partake in a trial before signing, Ibrahimovic was not interested.
The towering striker later told the Guardian: “I didn’t like being asked to prove myself. I know I’m good enough. I don’t need to show it to you. Either you know who I am or you don’t.”
Lionel Messi
Yes, Arsenal could’ve signed Lionel Messi.
The seven-time Ballon d’Or actually accompanied Pique on that aforementioned tour of London Colney along with Cesc Fabregas.
Wenger hinted that accommodation played a part in the deal breaking down, but also suggested Messi got cold feet over leaving Catalonia, saying: “I think in the end he was not so keen to move. It was not completely down to a flat in the end, it was down to the fact that Messi was comfortable at Barcelona.”
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