You’ve heard stories like this, and there are many more. The list of players who could have played for Arsenal under Wenger reads like a who’s who of world football.
It’s almost become a running joke about the number of stars who are “close” to joining the Gunners. According to “Planet Football”, the honorable mentions include N’Golo Kante, Paul Pogba, Eden Hazard, Angel Di Maria, Karim Benzema, Z Ratan Ibrahimovic and Didier Drogba.
But the starters Wenger almost signed for Arsenal do make you think about what could have been. Work permit and passport issues saw the Frenchman miss out on Ronaldinho and Yaya Toure respectively, while he admitted not signing Southampton’s Gareth Bale was a “huge mistake”.
While this is understandable given that Ashley Cole and Gael Clichy were both left-backs at the time, who could have predicted that Bale would develop into one of the best wingers of this generation? The same applies to Lionel Messi as he is very comfortable at Barcelona.
Having said that, with the rise of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe’s current trajectory, these two may be Arsenal’s biggest transfer regrets. Well, until now. Another man who “left” the Gunners long after Wenger’s departure was Jude Bellingham.
As told by club legend Tony Adams, the England international could have moved to north London before joining Borussia Dortmund before joining Real Madrid this past summer, but the move never materialized because of Edu ·Gaspar “No” “I don’t know anything about him. “
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“I think that has been lost on the change of chief scout[Steve Morrow]at Arsenal,” Adams told Sky Sports in November 2020. “He was spotted very early on. Well, it wasn’t me, it was the Arsenal recruitment office. The chief scout was absolutely impressed by him and his great prospects.”
“He more or less got the deal done but then the new sporting director Edu came in from Brazil with no European experience and no British experience. I think it got lost in the transition and Edu had nothing to do with it. Know. Unfortunately, the chief scout has already made the deal – unfortunately, we missed it.
“They are the players we need to get at Arsenal if we want to develop and move forward. We need to link up these players and get them to Arsenal to build a phenomenal league team.” He is a great A talent, but unfortunately he didn’t join the right club. “
When you’re right, you’re right, and Tony Adams was right in this case. Bellingham has impressed for Real Madrid so far this season and played a starring role in England’s win over Italy at Wembley on Tuesday night to qualify for next summer’s European Championships.
The scary thing about the performance is that he’s only 20 years old. He’s been out for a few years now, but it feels like he’s just getting started. He has it all in the game – he can score goals, he can help defensively, he covers a lot of ground and is undoubtedly a future captain. Honestly, he’s probably one of the best midfielders England has ever produced.
Yes, Ronaldo and Mbappe would be great signings for Arsenal. But the former always belongs to Real Madrid, and you feel that the latter is destined to make such a change. So ultimately they are no different to the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Patrick Vieira or even Thierry Henry.
Will Bellingham be any different? Maybe not because he does have the aura of a Real Madrid player, but if the Arsenal deal hadn’t been “lost in the transition,” imagine him now alongside international teammate Declan Rice and captain Martin Odegaard Eighth left”.
This is a midfield trio capable of continuing to dominate in England and Europe for some time, and perhaps Bellingham won’t feel the need to leave. Oh well, let’s just hope he takes his talents to the Premier League after conquering Spain.