Bayern Munich right-back Rafinha has confirmed during an interview that he turned down a move to a top Premier League club this summer, which his agent confirmed was Arsenal.

The idea that we almost signed an aging right-back, with all due respect, won’t be music to most Arsenal fans’ ears. However, the Brazilian made 41 appearances for the Bundesliga team last season and, since they got him to sign a new contract recently, he’s obviously well-loved by the club.

During an interview, the defender confirmed, “The Premier League is a top league, but I have two more years at Bayern and I plan to stay here for at least this period.

“My agent has told me that he has been approached by some English clubs, but I decided to renew my contract with Bayern and those English clubs went away.”

The Premier League club in question, as confirmed by his agent, was indeed Arsenal.

However, by the sounds of it, we only made an inquiry. It’s not as if we launched an out-and-out bid for the 30-year-old. Clubs make inquiries about players a lot more than we think, whether it be about a loan or permanent deal.

Wenger insisted during the summer that we weren’t signing another defender, and we didn’t.