Arsene Wenger has revealed that he once tried to sign West Brom midfielder, Gareth Barry.
Wenger congratulated Barry ahead of Arsenal’s Monday night clash with West Brom, which could see the 36-year-old beat Ryan Giggs’ record for Premier League appearances.
However, it seems that the boss can hardly ever mention another player anymore without revealing that he once tried to sign them, which apparently the Frenchman tried to do with Barry when he was at Aston Villa.
“We were interested in him when he moved from Villa to City but at the time City was the big investor,” said Wenger.
Barry, who signed for Manchester City from Villa in 2009, is set to make his 633rd Premier League appearance if he gets the nod on Monday, which he inevitably will since he’s already featured in four of the Baggies’ league games so far this term.
Giggs made 632 appearances during his 14-year career at Manchester United before he retired from playing in 2014.
Barry now joins the list of players who Wenger tried to sign but couldn’t or didn’t.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Juan Mata, Gerard Pique, Vincent Kompany, Paul Pogba, Lionel Messi, Romelu Lukaku, Gary Cahill… the list goes on.
Hace unos años, este chico no tenía ni idea del grave error del Arsenal al rechazarlo.
El gran Zlatan Ibrahimovic! pic.twitter.com/WFbYbdcJD2
— Sportags (@Sportags) February 4, 2016
Perhaps Barry would have gone on to become an Arsenal great if we had wanted him more than City back in 2009. Perhaps he would have been a legend.
However, somehow, I’m less gutted about losing out on the former England international than the likes of Ronaldo and Zlatan.