‘Was a possibility’: Romano says Arsenal were offered chance to sign Papu Gomez

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Speaking on the Here We Go Podcast, Fabrizio Romano has shared that Arsenal were offered the chance to sign Papu Gomez this month.

The Argentine was looking for an exit from Atalanta this month, and the Gunners were apparently asked if they were interested in signing him, but they turned down that opportunity.

As we know, Arsenal instead signed Martin Odegaard, while Gomez is now turning out for Sevilla, being announced as their new signing on Tuesday after years of starring in Serie A.

“Was it true that he was offered to Arsenal in the last weeks?” Romano’s co-host asked while they were talking about Gomez.

“Yes, there was a bidding opportunity, Papu Gomez for Arsenal, but they never considered him like a serious contender for the role of number 10, so they were looking for a player, and we mentioned about Buendia and the situation of other players, obviously they’ve signed Odegaard so there is nothing happening right now,” Romano replied.

“But Papu Gomez was a possibility, like offered, and they were looking for a young player, not an old, respected Papu, because in my opinion he is one of the best players in the world, but they were going for a different one.

“So, Sevilla signed him, it’s really a top deal, because signing Papu Gomez for €5.5m with €3m add-ons, like around €8m for this kind of player is amazing.”

This is certainly interesting to hear.

Romano calls Gomez one of the best players in the world, and he’s not wrong.

The Argentine has been a key component in Atalanta’s rebirth as a European force in recent years, and ex-Chelsea boss Gianluca Vialli even tipped him to win the Ballon d’Or.

“Papu has improved over the years, he has become a complete player. He makes the quality and quantity to change the games. He solves them, he wins them,” Vialli said.

“Fantastic. But there’s [Lionel] Messi, [Cristiano] Ronaldo, Neymar, [Robert] Lewandowski and you’ll say, oh well, I would award Gomez the Ballon d’Or, but not giving it to any of these is difficult.”

The fact that he moved to Sevilla for just €8.5m (£7.5m) indicates that he could have been a bargain for the London club.

If he had joined Arsenal, the Gunners would have had an incredibly talented player on their hands, but at the age of 32, his advancing years weren’t in his favour, and the Gunners opt for the younger option of Odegaard.