Talents that Wenger had on his radar: How Arsenal dropped Ronaldo, Mbappe, Pique and Messi

Arsene Wenger is considered one of the best scouts among managers. During the 22 years he spent at Arsenal, he discovered hundreds of talented players, but the club's management did not always follow his instincts. The Frenchman often talked about the players who Gunners missed by a hair, and now he has discovered how world football stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe, Gerard Pique and Lionel Messi have slipped out of his hands.

It is generally known that Ronaldo was close to moving to Arsenal before Sporting Lisbon decided to do business with Manchester United. In the summer of 2003, the Red Devils paid the Lisabon Lions around 17 million USD (1.8 billion KSH) for the services of the talented Portuguese, who grew into one of the best football players of all time.

Current Juventus striker also admitted that he was "very close" to joining the ranks of United's fierce rival. Wenger believes that CR7 would have ended up in the north of the UK capital if Carlos Queiroz had not intervened. The Portuguese expert joined Alex Ferguson's staff a year earlier. He managed to convince the Scotsman to buy Ronaldo, so the Gunners were left empty-handed.

"He was very close to joining us. Ronaldo was with us in training in an Arsenal shirt. We were unlucky that Carlos Queiroz was at Manchester United. In a week he convinced Ferguson to buy Ronaldo and it was a great deal at the time." Wenger said.

More than 17 years have passed, Ronaldo brought three titles in the Premier League and the Champions League trophy to the team from Old Trafford, before moving to Real Madrid for a world record of 113.5 million USD (12.4 billion KSH) (meanwhile broken several times), continuing his pursuit for more silverware with Los Blancos. Today he has five Ballon d'Ors and two FIFA The Best Player of the Year awards.

Kylian Mbappe is making headlines around the world these days. A hat-trick against Barcelona is just another achievement of the amazing 22-year-old. He showed his incredible potential at Monaco, he rose to stardom as a member of Paris Saint-Germain, and even though he was only 20 years old, he managed to be one of the best individuals of the French national team that reached the top of the world in Russia two years ago.

Mbappe, who is characterized as the successor of Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, could have moved to Arsenal as a free agent! Eventually, he ended up at Le Parc des Princes in a transfer worth 217 million USD (23.7 billion KSH).

"Speaking of Mbappe, I was at his house when he wasn't sure whether to extend his contract with Monaco. He could have arrived at Arsenal for free. Every club is full of stories like this, you can find them in Milan, Manchester United, Arsenal or Chelsea ", claims Arsene Wenger.

One of the best moves of Arsenal during Wenger's tenure was the engagement of Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona's La Masia academy. But the French expert did not want only the Spanish midfielder in the ranks of his team in 2003. The talent was also recognized in Gerard Pique (who played in the midfield at the time), as well as another member of the '87 generation - Lionel Messi. The idea of ​​the former coach of the Gunners was to strike a package deal and move them all to London.

"We wanted a trio - Messi, Fabregas and Pique. They were all born in 1987 and played together. Pique played in the midfield at the time and went to Manchester United. Fabregas joined us and Barcelona was smart enough to keep Messi” said the 70-year-old Wenger.