The 'Arsene Wenger Tried to Sign' Thread

Suedesi

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Speaking of Arsene, how come no club has employed him yet? He seems to be looking for work and he's better than the random ex-midfielders getting jobs galore.
 

awop

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Speaking of Arsene, how come no club has employed him yet? He seems to be looking for work and he's better than the random ex-midfielders getting jobs galore.
He's working at FIFA and supposedly rejected some offers. I don't think he'll take another club gig, maybe a national side.
 

Gehrman

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Almost signed Messi.

Inter actually bid 150 million euros(his buyout clause) for him when he was 18 and offered to triple his wages. 150 million euro's was an insane fee in 2006 for a more or less unproven prodigy.
 

awop

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Just a small delay, next summer he's ours :cool:
 

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It's unfair to think what he's said is wrong. He's essentially saying that most major clubs keep track of upcoming academy stars. And try in some ways to pursue them.

He literally said every major club has these stories and it's not only him. My opinion on him has only risen since pizza gate
 

Rojofiam

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Why are people ridiculing him for this? Like he said, every top club and manager could tell lots of these stories

He's just sharing behind the scenes stories from 10-15 years ago
 

BR7

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So it appears Wenger's at it again with his tales of 'if things were different he would be playing for us'. This is in regards to trying to sign Di Maria when he was 17 but the deal fell through due to work permit regulations. I've personally lost track of all the players Wenger reckons he could have signed or almost signed so lets compile a list and see what that Arsenal team could have looked like if Wenger would have got his man each time.

Goalkeeper: Petr Cech - Work permit issues made Wenger miss out on Cech back in 2002 and he instead went on to sign for Rennes in France, eventually moving on to Chelsea.

Midfield: Yaya Toure - Wenger turned down Yaya after having him on trial as a youngster. Yaya then went on to join Olympiacos instead and become one of the best midfielder's in the world.

Midfield: Di Maria - Work Permit Issues. Wenger identified Di Maria when he was 17 but

Striker: Zlatan Ibrahimovic - About to sign from Malmö but Wenger asked him to play a trial. Zlatan doesn't do auditions. Transfer off.

Striker: Messi - The story goes that Arsenal's refusal to buy Messi's family an apartment in London saw the deal fall through. I'm sure Wenger would have given him his own home if he knew just how great he was going to become. Arsenal were keen at the time but not THAT keen as they'd just secured Febregas.

Striker: Cristiano Ronaldo - Shown around London, given an Arsenal shirt with his name on the back by Wenger, who also confirmed the transfer with Sporting, all done after wooing Ronaldo's mother. Then United play Sporting in 2003, Sporting win 3-1 with Ronaldo running the show. Carlos Queiroz works his magic. Another one that got away.

There are more out there, some are somewhat dubious but Arsenal could have one hell of a team if Wenger would have got the players he wanted. There's a running theme in all of them though, if Wenger would have simply tried to be less tight with his cash (like now) he would have landed an incredibly impressive bunch of players.
Heard a funny story from ray parlour on talk sport about kolo Toure’s trial at arsenal where within an hour he’d crocked both Henry and betgkamp and a few minutes later wiped wenger out who had to go into the treatment room
 

Champagne Football

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Cristiano would have been destroyed at Arsenal. He would have missed out on a dressing room full of bona-fide winners like Keane, Fletcher, Rio, The Nevilles etc
 

The holy trinity 68

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Cristiano would have been destroyed at Arsenal. He would have missed out on a dressing room full of bona-fide winners like Keane, Fletcher, Rio, The Nevilles etc,
:lol: I like how you named him when he was young himself when Ron arrived and we had gone through a spell with no league title for a few years. Why not mention Scholes, Giggs, etc instead haha.
 

Champagne Football

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:lol: I like how you named him when he was young himself when Ron arrived and we had gone through a spell with no league title for a few years. Why not mention Scholes, Giggs, etc instead haha.
Fletcher is one of those players who didn't have one tenth of the talent of world class players, but through sheer hard work and inner belief he made it to the very top, often being the difference in massive PL and CL games.
He has every bit the Utd DNA as all the great Man Utd legends had. On top of that he conducted himself on and off the pitch impecibly. He would have been a brilliant role model and team mate for Cristiano, despite only being a year older. In the same way Scott McT is a brilliant role model and team mate for young players in the team or coming through like Diallo, Greenwood, Wan-Bissaka etc

There were quite a few Arsenal super talents from the Cristiano Man Utd era who did not realize their potential - Theo Walcott, Jack Wiltshire, Ox-Chamberlain etc
 

Harry190

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Heard he almost signed Pele, but since he wasn't born yet, the passport couldn't be finalized on time.
 

horsechoker

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The spirit of Arsene lives on at Arsenal.
I'm sure Arsenal weren't as "close" to signing anyone as they claim. Apparently they're are somehow close to signing every top player yet don't and end up with Xhaka and Elneny.
 

Grinner

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I'm sure Arsenal weren't as "close" to signing anyone as they claim. Apparently they're are somehow close to signing every top player yet don't and end up with Xhaka and Elneny.
Yeah what would Steve Bould know about it? I'm sure you have extensive insights into the goings-on at Arsenal.
 

horsechoker

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I'm sure you could keep posting drivel. That's your right as a poster.
It's just speculation in any case. I would be upset if United kept saying "we almost signed x, y, z"

Either the people at Arsenal are incompetent or they're exaggerating how close they have been to certain players.

I don't know as much Steve Bould yet he's overseen Arsenal's decline from top 4 team to just about in the Europa league.
 

Grinner

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It's just speculation in any case. I would be upset if United kept saying "we almost signed x, y, z"

Either the people at Arsenal are incompetent or they're exaggerating how close they have been to certain players.

I don't know as much Steve Bould yet he's overseen Arsenal's decline from top 4 team to just about in the Europa league.

I'm glad to see you exercise your rights.
 

Thunderhead

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something in the paper to being close to signing Zinchenco in 2015, I'd love to see the 'nearly signed' team he could put out
 

VidaRed

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Wenger also nearly signed zidane in 1996 but juventus snatched him at the very last second!
 

jus2nang

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Cristiano would have been destroyed at Arsenal. He would have missed out on a dressing room full of bona-fide winners like Keane, Fletcher, Rio, The Nevilles etc
Huh? So he'd have entered a dressing room full of losers like Henry, Bergkamp, Vieira and Campbell etc???
 

Salford_Red83

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I feel like Wenger is a like that mate you have who's a story topper.

You know the kind, if you said you went to Tenerife he'll say he's been to ELEVENerife.
 

horsechoker

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I feel like Wenger is a like that mate you have who's a story topper.

You know the kind, if you said you went to Tenerife he'll say he's been to ELEVENerife.
God I hated that fecking kid, Daniel you were a prick! You didn't have more PlayStation games than me!