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Arsene Wenger

LONDON. — Arsenal may have struggled for trophies in the last decade, but surely with this XI they would have been conquering Europe for many years.

Angel di Maria is the latest of a long list of players who Arsene Wenger admitted narrowly missed out on a move to north London.

The team may be top heavy and would most definitely be high on entertainment and slightly creaky at the back, but would surely bring trophies and goals to the Emirates Stadium.

Petr Cech

“Before I went to Rennes I was watched by Arsenal but when I couldn’t get a work permit the situation was missed,” Cech told 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.”

Gerard Pique

Gerard Pique was the subject of a proposed triple swoop from Wenger, as he looked to prise away Barcelona’s hottest talents.

“We wanted to take Fabregas, Messi and Pique. It worked only for Fabregas,” he said.

Vincent Kompany

“I had meetings with Emilio Butragueno at Real Madrid, the club leaders at Barcelona and by Arsene Wenger himself at Arsenal,” his agent Jacques Lichtenstein.

“But heading to an absolute top club immediately was not the right solution because Vincent is someone who feels alone in an environment where he is not properly valued.

“Vincent is not a third or fourth choice. In Hamburg that was not the case.”

Claude Makelele

“Makelele was close to signing with us. He was straight after Vieira came, August 1996. He was still in Nantes,” said Wenger.

Yaya Toure

“It would be up at the top (of my list of regrets),” Wenger said. “But let’s not forget that Yaya Toure had an agreement with us — and it’s not because we did not want to sign him that he went to Ukraine.

“We needed to wait for his passport in Belgium. We have made mistakes but he is not a mistake, it’s just the fact that he preferred to go to Metalurh Donetsk. He could go there without any passport.”

Angel di Maria

“We identified Di Maria when he was 17. We wanted him to come here, but he goes to Portugal, from Portugal he goes to Spain. Why? Because he could not get a work permit here.

“That means you can only get him to England once he is worth a huge amount of money,” said Wenger.

Gareth Bale

“I must confess it was a huge mistake (not to sign him) as he can play in midfield. He struggled at the start at Tottenham, then they moved him to midfield and he has done exceptionally well,” said Wenger.

“The career of a player sometimes depends on playing in the right position.”

Cristiano Ronaldo

“He was very close to coming here,” said the Frenchman. “He has a No 9 shirt with Ronaldo on the back from Arsenal Football Club.

“What happened was that Carlos Queiroz went to Manchester United and they snapped him away from us because he knew him from Sporting (Lisbon).

“That’s what life is about. You give your best but sometimes you might find that people are stronger than you. That can happen as well.”

Lionel Messi

“I think in the end, he was not so keen to move, because it was at a period where Fabregas came and Fabregas and Messi played together in the same team,” said Wenger.

“It was not completely down to a flat in the end. It was down to the fact that in the end Messi was comfortable at Barcelona.”

Didier Drogba

“We watched him carefully when he was at Le Mans,” said Wenger. “It was not only us who watched him. But we felt he might not be completely ready.

“It was a mistake but, when you are in football, everyone can understand. We had Thierry Henry. We said we would follow Drogba’s progress. We never ruled him out.”

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

“Arsene (Wenger) gave me the famous red and white jersey — the No 9 shirt with Ibrahimovic on it and I was so pleased I even posed for a picture wearing it,” said Ibrahimovic.

“He never actually made me a serious offer, it was more, ‘I want to see how good you are, what kind of player you are. Have a trial’. “I couldn’t believe it. I was like, “No way, Zlatan doesn’t do auditions.” — Mailonline.