Just thought I'd make a thread on the players Arsenal nearly signed but for whatever reasons, we missed out on. This is not to overlook the great players that both Arsene/Arsenal have signed and made great stars over the years... but one could only imagine and wonder: what if? 1). Ronaldinho Yes, you read right. For those of you who are not aware, the greatest footballer (in my opinion) in modern football could've signed for Arsenal from his home country club Gremio, but unfortunately, due to a work permit issue, he instead signed for Paris Saint German. He would eventually become a Barcelona player after they failed to sign Beckham from Manchester United. The Highbury boss was keen to land the 25-year-old superstar from his Brazilian club Gremio five years ago. However, his efforts to sign the now World and European Player of the Year fell through when UK Home Office rules on foreign players ruled the playmaker was not a regular in the Brazil squad at the time - thus making him ineligible for a work permit. Wenger stated that he would like English football to adopt a foreign-player quota system rather than allow the British government to determine a player's eligibility. "We could have got Ronaldinho before he went to PSG," Wenger revealed. "I met his brother, who is his agent, a long, long time before he went to PSG - when he was 20 - but we just could not get him to England because of the rules here. "Basically, what the rule does is force you to wait to buy the player but, by then, you cannot afford him anymore. "He had not played enough games for Brazil to get a work permit over here. "It's a rule I don't like and it's why I think we should have a quota system instead, where the club chooses the age and nationality of the player, and you are allowed a certain number of them." http://www.skysports.com/story/0,,11670_2359161,00 en-USS_01DBC.html 2). Cristiano Ronaldo Love him or hate him, no one can deny what a talent this man is. Helping Manchester United to three Premier League titles, a Champions League title, an FA Cup amongst others. As well as currently performing very well at Real Madird, it's hard to believe that the same Ronaldo could've ended up as an Arsenal player. According to Arsene though, many factors stopped him from signing for Arsenal. "I'm disappointed that I seduced only Ronaldo's mum," Wenger joked. "I had Ronaldo at the training ground, I showed him around and I gave him a shirt. It has got his name on the back. "At the end of the day I wanted him to be here, but most important is he makes a career. He went to Man United and made a career, he would have done that here." Wenger was first notified about the talents of Ronaldo during the annual Under-20 tournament in Toulon, France. "I saw that he was an exceptional talent but we could not predict he would become the player that he is," Wenger added. "What we did not see in him at that time is his capability to score goals." Wenger also insisted that the money aspect hindered his efforts to sign Ronaldo, adding: "It was a question of the amount of transfer fee between the two clubs." Ronaldo left Sporting Lisbon for £12.5million in the summer of 2003, but Wenger said: "The price we discussed was much lower. What killed the deal is that United played against Sporting Lisbon [in a friendly] and Ronaldo was man of the match. "Carlos Queiroz knew him well and since then they have signed Anderson and Nani. It's like I can sign from France because I know them well." http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...d-Cristiano-Ronaldo-for-Arsenal-Football.html 3).Peter Cech The back bone of Jose Mourinho's Chelsea of the 2004-2006 era and still a very solid goal keeper in his own right, Cech claimed that Arsenal didn't feel he was good enough to join their team, although others have suggested it was a work permit issue. Arsenal (up until now) have had issues with having a solid goal keeper. Imagine if Cech had played in the Champions League final against Barcelona in 2006... would it have been a different story? Cech, 28, has become one of the finest keepers in world football during his seven-year spell at Stamford Bridge, but he could have been plying his trade in north rather than west London had things panned out differently. The Czech Republic international was watched by Arsenal's scouts while he was at Sparta Prague but they were put off by him not qualifying for a work permit and he ended up heading to French side Rennes. The work permit may have been a stumbling block, but Cech has suggested Gunners boss Arsene Wenger was informed by his scouting network that the keeper was not good enough. "Before I went to Rennes I was watched by Arsenal but when I couldn't get a work permit the situation was missed," Cech is quoted as saying in The Sun. "And at the last minute I think the person who was the chief scout at Arsenal didn't think I was good enough for the English league. So in the end it didn't happen." http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/s...h:-i-could-have-been-arsenal's-no.-1?cc=5739# Feel free to add anymore gooners. Just imagine if we had signed all of those players mentioned... how different would have Arsenal's fortunes had been? This is not to diminish the achievements we have made in spite of not signing them. Are we still making the same mistakes today of not signing talented, promising players soon enough?
Juan Mata. Because Gazidis wasn't willing to pay £2 million more, he went to Chelsea, and has been their best player.
I was discussing this with my mate last night as we watched Arsenal. We lacked a lot of creativity that someone like Mata could've provided. He would've been the perfect replacement for Fabregas/Nasri. I was so fustrated when I heard we missed out him due to the board being tight (although I may be wrong). I didn't mention him in this list because although I am an admirer of him, he has only had 1 good season in the PL. I'd like to see how he does over the next few years at Chelsea... but yes, he does seem like another one we let get away. edit: After further research, it looks like he snubbed us. "I want to come to England to win trophies - and that's why I accepted Chelsea's offer,'' he said. "It was also a question of sporting achievement, not money. Arsenal and Tottenham were both interested in me but they did not compare with the Blues. I want the Premier League title and this is possible at Chelsea." http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/s...al-and-spurs-'don't-compare'-to-blues?cc=5739
All water under the bridge and we were only left at the water's edge because of the crazy policies of our management and the ineptness of our negotiating team. Ronaldo was PITA and I'm not sure we might not have done just as well or better with someone else. I don't see Arsenal as being a comfortable or indeed suitable place for prima donnas. In place of Peter Cech we do have Chezzers who I'd take any time in place of Cech and Chezzers has many more years ahead. As for Ronaldhino, well we have Ryodinho so our future looks good
I know Cabaye and Ben Arfa were linked with you a lot, whilst not in the same caliber (yet) as the 3 above, for the money we paid for them (£5m each), you'd have to see it as a massive missed opportunity!
Both players look like a steal but especially Ben Arfa. Can't believe you picked him up so cheap but I heard a rumour it's because he was a bit of a twat and his team mates didn't like playing with him. Much the same was said about RVP when he was a nipper though and look how that turned out!
Aye those rumours are fairly well substantiated and there's loads of stuff going around about him at the minute (after that goal against Bolton!) He was/is known as enfant terrible due to his **** attitude and constant bust ups with team mates and coaches, so far at Newcastle he's been pretty well behaved and aside from calling his own press conference to vent his frustrations at not starting, he's never put his head above the precipice for anything other than good football, testament to Pardew's man management for me! Cost Marseille €12m Euros back in 2008 so a really good deal for us. Cabaye as well was meant to be a lot more but our scouts heard about a buy-out clause in his contract. Gutierrez on a free (though we did eventually have to pay out a few million) Tiote £3.5, Cabaye £5m and Ben Arfa £5m has to be one of the best value for money midfields in the league today!
The manager and management my friend. An absence of forward thinking while they line their own pockets.
Did you read the OPs article? Ronaldinho - Work Permit Ronaldo - Wooed but chose United - Portuguese connections Cech - Work Permit Even Mata who someone touted chose Chelsea for the trophies... Some were mentioning Phil Jones at the start of the season as one missed. Personally I think it's debateable but in that instance I believe we offered more than United I firmly believe 95% of the speculation in the media on players we missed out in just that, media speculation with no basis whatsoever on the truth.
Apparently if Liverpool had signed Gareth Barry we would have signed Alonso but there again that story could just be media speculation
Please keep your posts "on topic" If you wish to discuss the merits of bestiality,there is another place
I think Yaya Toure and Zlatan Ibrahimovic shouldn't be left out. Yaya played a trial game but failed to impress Wenger. I think there was also an issue with work permit. Whereas Ibrahimovic refused to play in a trial match as he thought he was good enough and took it as an insult. About Mata: I think we'd have got him if the transfer saga with Cesc and Nasri hadn't stretched out until mid/end August. I have still no idea why we didn't get rid off them by June/July. It's not like we got extra cash for keeping them until the season had started. They are the reason why we had to make quite a lot of last-minute signings, otherwise we'd be challengingen for the title right now IMO. There was a rumour that Juan Mata and Santi Cazorla were going to replace them, but since it took to long to seal the deal for the above mentioned players, other clubs with bigger financial power came in and bought them. We were after Mata way before Chelsea had him on their wishlist. I can't find any confirmation for this, but I believe that I read somewhere that Wenger was going to buy Berbatov back in 2006 if Henry had left. In an interview he said that he didn't buy him because we had Henry, van Persie and Adebayor already to play up front. Berbatov proved to be a top player for Tottenham and also won the Golden Boot last season.
