Arsenal scout Francis Cagigao tried to get Arsene Wenger to sign Fernando Torres as a 15-year-old, before the Spanish striker ended up at Atletico Madrid.

Spanish outlet AS reported the story in their Thursday edition. Before signing professional terms with his current club, a young Torres caught the eye of the likes of Barcelona, AS Roma and the Arsenal scout in an appearance in the Nike Cup.

Cagigao tried to convince Wenger to sign the player, but failed, and Atletico agreed a deal instead.

The Arsenal scout has a strong history scouting players for Arsenal. He spotted players like Lauren, Cesc Fabregas, Santi Cazorla and Hector Bellerin during his time with the club. Torres was one that got away though.

Instead, the now 34-year-old spent time with Liverpool, Chelsea, Milan and two spells with Atletico.

Torres hasn’t exactly been in blistering form this season, with eight goals in 40 matches. However, at his best the striker was something special, as we saw during his time in Liverpool. Plus, he made them £50m at the end of that spell too.

Hopefully he doesn’t make Arsenal regret not signing him tonight, as Antoine Griezmann already did last week. Knowing this club, he almost certainly will.