Top 5 Young Arsenal Targets Who Went On To Become Superstars Including Zlatan Ibrahimovic

It is no secret that legendary manager Arsene Wenger has an eye for an attacking player. He has time and again chosen among the best young talents that he knows by hindsight, they would be able to compete in the rigorous Premier League. But he has not been successful in landing some of his major transfer targets, arguably some which were reasonably affordable and had immense potential.

Here we look at five former Arsenal targets who are now proven superstars at their respective clubs:

5. Mario Götze

Almost all the major clubs across Europe were on red alert when they came to know about Götze’s availability. The young German was reportedly interested in a move away from Dortmund and Arsenal had hoped to snatch him from other European rivals. With a release clause of £32m, Götze was affordable considering his ability and talent. But Bayern Munich pounced on the want away German just before Dortmund’s semi final fixture against Real Madrid in UCL 12-13.

4. Eden Hazard

 

World Football was shaken when Hazard expressed his desire to leave Lille and have a move on in his career. Premier League clubs Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea were narrowed down to be the favored destination for the youngster. Then it boiled down to the fact that Chelsea were UCL Champions and thus had convinced Eden Hazard to join them. Arsene Wenger had almost signed him but Chelsea outbid the Gunners on wages offered. ‘All the teams with big budgets in England were after him.

“The transfer price was fixed, because he has a buyout clause, so everybody was at the same level,’ said Wenger. ‘I cannot tell you how close we were to signing him, because I don’t know what Chelsea paid in the end.”

3. Juan Mata

 

Arsenal should have ideally had no problems in signing the then 23 year old Juan Mata from Valencia in order to replace Cesc Fabregas. With the release clause of around £18m, he was always affordable. But with Chelsea also interested in Mata, his price was sure to rise due to competition. Due to some reason or another, Wenger did not pursue Mata with better determination, as Chelsea easily outbid the Gunners to a £27 million deal.

Mata went on to be worth every penny for the Blues as he became their player of the year twice in his two full seasons with the Blues. Mata was then seen surplus to requirements by new manager Jose Mourinho and was sold to Manchester United in the Red Devils’ record breaking £37.1m deal, highlighting the growth shown by the Spaniard.

2. Yaya Toure

 

Arsene Wenger had almost signed Kolo’s younger brother Yaya Toure in 2003. But because of various reasons such as work permit issues, young Yaya’s impatience as well as Wenger’s and Toure’s conflicting vision of his playing position Arsenal failed to sign the Ivorian.

Wenger envisaged Yaya Toure as a support striker, as the main creator behind the striker, as an advanced playmaker. Yaya on the other hand wanted to be the midfield maestro, the boss, like his idol Patrick Vieira. Hence such unfortunate issues led to Arsenal losing one of the best talents they could have had especially since this is a payer who would have solved almost all of their midfield problems in the current seasons.

1. “Zlatan doesn’t do trials!”

Here our pole position goes to Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s failed transfer to Arsenal. An emerging talent, Zlatan was asked by Wenger to do a trial for the club. Then came the legendary statement from Zlatan and rest is history. It cannot be guaranteed that Gunners would have held to the nomadic yet world class centre forward, but Arsenal fans still feel bitter when they think of “what could have been”. Zlatan probably would have played for Arsenal until he was 24 or 25 which would have seen him play with the likes of Thierry Henry or a young developing van Persie. Another future superstar gone wanting.