However, Arsenal’s board, Arsene Wenger, and their myopic scouts have made themselves notorious for failing to sign future superstars. Here are just a few of the many starlets that slid through the clutches of Arsenal and on to much greater things:
#7 Yaya Toure (Age: 20)
The Manchester City stalwart is most renown for turning a pretender into a contender. Before Toure’s arrival, Manchester City hadn’t even come close to challenging for the Premier League title. Just a season after Yaya’s arrival he turned his new club into perennial winners as he bossed Premier League midfielders.
It’s a dream story for Yaya and City but it could’ve all been a ‘what if’ fantasy of its own had he signed with Arsenal at the age of 20. Despite Wenger having scouted him since he was 15, the former Arsenal manager wasn’t clairvoyant enough to see what Toure’s future had in store.
Even though the midfielder donned a Gunners jersey in a friendly against Barnet in 2003 –and with his brother already a starting XI lock- Wenger refused to sign the player after his trial.
Some inside the Arsenal camp will tell you that Yaya wasn’t signed because he had an average trial. Wenger himself, however, would tell you that permit issues and an impatient Yaya meant that his Arsenal days would be nothing but a fantasy for red North Londoners.
#6 Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Age: 16)
At the tender age of 16, Zlatan was being courted by Arsenal. In hindsight the move would have been a no-brainer, however, Arsene wasn’t completely sold on bringing over the 16-year-old from Malmo so he asked Zlatan to train with the first team before inking a deal.
In classic Zlatan fashion, the striker rejected Wenger’s cautious overture and opted for Ajax shortly after.
#5 Gianluigi Buffon (Age: 22)
Pundits have been critiquing Arsenal’s goalkeepers for years. Since the departure of Jens Lehmann until the signing of Petr Cech, Arsenal fans had been begging Wenger to sign a keeper.
Had a dinner between Wenger and Gigi Buffon gone down a little better in 2000, perhaps Arsenal wouldn’t have faced such criticism. The dinner took place in anticipation of the departure of club legend David Seaman.
Arsene was combing Europe for a long-term replacement and thought Gigi might save a few between the sticks.
Whatever hope the North London club of signing arguably the best keeper of all time was dashed when Juventus forked over 32.6 million pounds to Parma, a record transfer fee for a goalkeeper that was only recently broken in 2017 by the signing of Ederson.
#4 Vincent Kompany (Age: 20)
After strutting his stuff with Anderlecht in Belgium, some of Europe’s biggest clubs were after the young Vincent Kompany. The starlet’s agent had meetings with Madrid, Barcelona, and Arsenal.
Vincent’s agent felt as though he needed to go somewhere where the impressionable player would feel valued and could gain crucial experience on the pitch. Having brushed off three of the world’s biggest clubs, Kompany decided to sign with Hamburg before shipping off to England just two years later.
#3 Paul Pogba (Age: 16 & 19)
If there’s one thing Wenger did well, it’s that he signed French players. His record of signing great French players includes Patrick Vieira, Laurent Koscielny, Nicolas Anelka, and of course Thierry Henry.
Despite his strong connections with France, Wenger was bested twice in his attempts to sign Paul Pogba. Having had eyes for the player since his time with Le Havre, Arsene tried to lure him over in 2009 but not before the Theatre of Dreams would hypnotize Pogba.
In 2012, Pogba was once again making moves. His three-year period with United didn’t play out as both parties had wanted so he found himself packing yet again. An offer of half a million pounds would see the player join Juventus and go on to become one of the best midfielders in Europe.
When asked what had happened Wenger responded that things transpired too quickly for his club to sign the promising midfielder.
#2 Cristiano Ronaldo (Age: 18)
In 2003, the future 5-time Ballon d’Or winner walked the halls of Highbury with Wenger in tow. The two spoke about what Ronaldo’s role would look like at Arsenal and his trajectory towards becoming a formidable winger.
By the end of the visit, Ronaldo walked out of Highbury with an Arsenal jersey with his name on the back. With a bid of €4 million already accepted by Sporting Lisbon, the winger only had to agree to personal terms.
Yet in the waning hours, the Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz - who was Fergie’s assistant at the time - convinced the young gun to play at Old Trafford. After an impressive friendly against United, the Manchester club promptly made a bid of £12 million for the youngster’s services.
The pairing of Henry and Ronaldo surely would’ve yielded trophies from all over Europe, yet sadly, the mouth-watering tandem would never be.
#1 Lionel Messi (Age: 16)
The only spurned signing that hurts more than Ronaldo is Lionel Messi. In 2003, Wenger tried to sign a promising trio from Barcelona’s La Masia. Thinking that he wouldn’t see much time in Catalonia, Cesc made the difficult decision to leave home and head for England.
Gerard Pique and the precocious Lionel Messi, however, found Barcelona too cosy to leave at such a young age.
Some within the media will tell you that Arsenal’s failure to find a home for Messi’s family led to the failure of the deal.
But Wenger believes that Messi simply had finally made himself comfortable in a foreign country and wasn’t ready to uproot himself so soon after settling in Spain.
Had Messi pledged his allegiance to Arsenal at 16 and showed the same commitment he’s shown Barcelona, Wenger wouldn’t currently be having a three-quarters life existential crisis.
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