Arsenal agreed deal for Kishna, but move fell through

Petr Cech was our sole signing this past summer, but it looks as though our failure in the transfer market wasn’t for lack of trying. We had apparently agreed a deal to sign promising Dutch winger Ricardo Kishna, but he turned us down in favour of a move to Lazio, according to the Daily Star.

The 20-year-old was plying his trade with Ajax last season, and was hugely impressive for the Dutch giants. He made the switch to Lazio for a very modest £2.9m (via the Daily Star), but claims he turned down a number of clubs – including Arsenal – before making the move.

The report suggests Arsene Wenger did everything he could to bring the youngster to the club, but wasn’t able to get the deal done.

Kishna claims he had a number of offers, but something about Lazio spoke to him.

“I had a good rapport with the Biancocelesti from the first moment,” he said.

“I was a fan of Serie A and Lazio were one of the most entertaining sides to watch. they had a fresh and enjoyable style of football, plus they scored lots of goals.

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“When I met the Coach and director of sport in Brussels, they convinced me straight away.

“I thought this proposal was very important for me because I was looking for a club, but also people to work with who would satisfy me.

“They wanted me because I could cover any of the attacking positions. For Lazio I turned down sides like Juventus, Roma and Arsenal.”

Kishna is a regular first teamer at Lazio, something he probably wouldn’t have managed at the Emirates. He still would have been an excellent signing though, especially for such a tiny fee.

As he says, he can cover all across the front line, which would have been incredibly useful. We’re lacking depth in the forward department, and Kishna would have helped remedy that.

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Missing out on the Serie A star is not a big deal at all, but the fact that we were snubbed in favour of a far smaller team is a bit of a blow.