Arsenal have missed out on signing so many players over the years that it almost became a running joke under Arsene Wenger.
The Gunners enjoyed great times under Wenger but it’s easy to think about how it could have been even better.
Wenger claimed to have missed out on some enormous talents, including Gianluigi Buffon, Claude Makelele and Ronaldinho in the late 90’s and early 2000’s.
Other names like Vincent Kompany, Raphael Varane, Gareth Bale, Yaya Toure, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe were also on Wenger’s wish list but Arsenal missed out.
It’s unclear just how close those deals really were but Arsenal have become more about the deals they have done than the deals they missed out on.
Arsenal wanted to splash the cash on Mykhailo Mudryk and Moises Caicedo but ended up landing Leandro Trossard and Jorginho instead.
Those moves have worked out and allowed Arsenal to instead spent on Declan Rice and Kai Havertz – two players who are making a huge impact right now.
Arsenal have still missed out on some exciting talents and one of them has become a league champion this season…
Former Arsenal talent spotter makes Florian Wirtz claim
Ex-Arsenal scout Yousuf Sajjad has been speaking to Rising Ballers about his time in the Gunners system.
Sajjad worked in the youth setup at Arsenal before leaving to become the technical director of Den Bosch in 2023.
Now searching for his next opportunity after leaving the Netherlands, Sajjad has spoken about trying to sign Florian Wirtz.
The attacking midfielder has been the driving force behind Bayer Leverkusen’s first-ever Bundesliga title win but he could have been an Arsenal player.
Sajjad claims that he wanted to land Wirtz as his Koln contract came to an end, but injury problems had plagued him.
Wirtz and his representatives seemingly wanted to stay in Germany and focus on his education, leading to the move to Leverkusen instead.
Sajjad notes that Arsenal just couldn’t get him in but watching him in the Koln ranks was ‘not normal’ as he was dazzling against older competition.
“There was actually a period where he was at Koln, he was coming towards the end of his contract,” said Sajjad. “Of course, you could see the level of player he was but he had also that season quite a few injuries, so he was playing, he wasn’t playing. It was almost like, at that point, it was just not something that they were keen on at that moment, or at least he was keen on pursuing at that moment.”
“I think education is quite important in Germany. It was almost like he had to finish school, then he makes obviously a great move to Leverkusen, it works out again really well for him and probably has the choice of whatever he clubs in the world that would want to sign him, but also achieving great things at Leverkusen as well.”
“His technical quality… he was scoring outrageous goals. Every time I went and watched him, he would have just outrageous moments in a game where you’re thinking ‘this is not normal’. I think, of course, it would hit everyone when you go and watch a player like that, that he’s having these type of moments, but for him to do on a consistent basis and do it mostly at a level where he’s playing for the Under-19’s, for the B team as an Under-16, I think it was also showing that he has a certain level of quality that is different to the rest,” he added.
Wirtz stats this season
Wirtz has been simply ridiculous under Xabi Alonso this term.
The 20-year-old – yes, he’s still only 20 – has racked up 17 goals and 19 assists in 44 appearances across all competitions.
HITC understands that Liverpool and Manchester City are both interested in signing Wirtz but Arsenal links haven’t re-emerged.
Wirtz is surely going to move for £100million or more whenever he decides to leave Leverkusen, possibly even £110million.
Whether Arsenal get back into that race down the line remains to be seen but, for now, Wirtz is just another name to add to the almost-Arsenal team.