Missed opportunities: The ones that got away

I recently read about the players that Arsene Wenger regrets not signing. These list included players such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Christiano Ronaldo, and Yaya Toure. In defence of Wenger, Zlatan refused to have trials as a teenager believing trials were beneath him. You think a manger such as Wenger and Sir Alex would stand for such petulance from a player who had never even proved himself? Of course not! Missing out on Christiano Ronaldo was obviously due to lack of finances at the time, something that David Dein confirmed and Wenger has always been upfront about (that’s a story for another day).

Yaya Toure to Manchester City was a curious case. He loved Arsenal and was begging to come only moving to Manchester City at the last moment when it looked like a deal with Arsenal had fallen through. How he did not end up at Arsenal is still a mystery to me.

While these players really are class acts, I don’t quite regret missing out on them as I can’t quite see where they would have fit in Arsenal apart from Christiano Ronaldo who would have obviously grabbed the limelight and brought the media circus and Hollywood to Arsenal. For Real Madrid that is fine but for a team like Arsenal and Manchester United that shun such unwarranted attention, it would have been a disaster.

However, there are three ‘Arsenal-esque’ players who should have been in Arsenal today. The first one is Stevan Jovetic. He was bought by Manchester City at a throwaway price but has never been able to fit in to their system. I remember when he became available, a friend of mine who is a Juventus supporter and I argued day and night why Jovetic was perfect for our respective teams…that argument is still ongoing.

Mario Gotze is the other player who should have been running Arsenal’s midfield by now. Guardiola does not know how to get the best out of Gotze who I believe is a complete midfielder. Maybe he might still end up at Arsenal one day when he gets fed up of his role at Bayern Munich.

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Marko Marin shocked me with his move to Chelsea. He was everything that the old Chelsea detested… a creative attacking midfielder with good dribbling skills and an eye for a pass. The old Chelsea preferred boring football that would end in a solitary goal and a lot of defending. It is a miracle that Eden Hazard and Fabregas have changed their style.

Marko Marin should have been in Arsenal. We have many creative midfielders but he would have brought something different with his directness. I read that he had gone to Anderlecht so it is fair to say that his career is going on a downward spiral and will probably never recover. What a waste for a player who linked up so well with Mesut Ozil at Werder Bremen.