View From The Sphere

FIVE players Arsenal should have signed BEFORE they rose to stardom

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Arsene WengerThis is not a list of players Arsenal should have bought in the last transfer window, it is a list of players I think the club should have bought BEFORE they became big-name stars:

Mesut Ozil

Weder Bremen to Real Madrid for €15 million

Ozil, in my opinion, is a great player. But with only 13 goals in 71 appearances for Weder Bremen from 2008-10, many would have overlooked his talent.

I believe the German would have fit in well next to Cesc Fabregas and could have easily settled in a 4-4-2 diamond formation. At only 24 (at the time of writing) he is arguably one of the best playmakers in world football.

In addition, Ozil was also on the 2011-12 shortlist for the FIFA Ballon d’Or award.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Sporting to Manchester United for £12.4 million

When you hear this name, some people think of the famous wink, some think of the fantastic free-kick against David James at Portsmouth, I think Arsenal could have signed him.

It was rumoured that Arsenal offered young Cristiano £90,000-a-week and were set to sign the tricky winger. However, Manchester United came along and offered him an extra 20k and the rest was history.

He is getting on a bit now at 28, yet he is still regarded as one of the best footballers ever to grace the game. With 183 goals (including the one against Manchester on Wednesday) and 180 games for Real Madrid, this man is certainly a machine that Arsenal could have done with. Ronaldo was the first player to win all four main PFA and FWA awards, doing so in 2007.

In 2008, Ronaldo won the Ballon d’Or. He became the runner up of the award in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012, second to Lionel Messi. He was awarded the European Golden Boot in both 2008 and 2011, and In 2008, he won three of the four main PFA and FWA trophies and was also named the FIFPro Player of the Year, World Soccer Player of the Year, Onze d’Or, and the FIFA World Player of the Year.

In 2007 and 2008, Ronaldo was named FWA Footballer of the Year. Ronaldo was the inaugural winner of the FIFA Puskás Award in 2009.

He would have been an absolute quality signing for us.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE OTHER THREE PLAYERS WHO MADE THE LIST

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5 comments

  • Gooner Jim says:

    Van der Wiel has been terrible for a couple of years now. Would rather have Carl Jenkinson as backup rb than him. Darjo Srna or Yuto Nagatomo are the calibre of players that should be taking over from Sagna.

    Scott Parker would have been an underwhelming signing. Like most English players, very overrated and not cut out for top level football.

    Agree with the others, but not convinced we’d have seen the same Cristiano Ronaldo here. Skillful youngster, but would never have expected him to become the great player he is.

  • ivorstephens says:

    I should have listened at school and gone on to be a doctor or a rocket scientist.You cant expect Arsenal to buy every young player of promise.Instead of wondering about who might have been a great signing,why not just back the players we do have,especially as our season enters its defining phase

  • ivorstephens says:

    Ps szcezny will be harts equal once hes behind a defence thats as good as citys

  • Cheadle says:

    Who gives a rats ….. about this we just lost to Rovers for cying out loud ..CRRAAAPP what the f…..K where the hell is Silver coming from this yr. CL? fat chance!! WHy cant we put minnows to the sword the way HENRY AND CO. USED TO WHY? WHY? WHY? NOW MY WHOLE EVENING IS SCRWD.

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