The only thing former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger likes to talk about more than the philosophical implications of life as a soccer manager is all the players he claims he narrowly missed out on signing. The latest addition to this nearly infinite list of Almost Gunners is former Manchester City academy prospect and current Borussia Dortmund starlet, Jadon Sancho. To say Sancho is the most exciting British prospect in some time is under-selling it, but to hear Wenger tell it, the Frenchman expected it and came oh-so-close to inking the London native years back:
Here is an incomplete list of other incredible, world-changing players whom the manager almost-but-not-quite signed in his time at North London:
- Vincent Kompany
- Raphael Varane
- Yaya Touré
- Paul Pogba
- Cristiano Ronaldo
- Lionel Messi
- Romelu Lukaku
- Zlatan Ibrahimović
- N’Golo Kanté
- Didier Drogba
- Luis Suárez
- Ronaldinho
- Gianluigi Buffon
- Kylian Mbappé
Arsenal fans who look at those names with painful visions of what could’ve been should look on the bright side: Their club would never have claimed as many of those highly coveted Fourth-Placed Trophies had some of these transfers gone through.