Midfielder Mihăiță Pleșan has claimed that Arsenal once offered €3m for his services.

The 31-year-old Romanian, who is currently a free agent, claims that when he was Universitatea Craiova Arsenal tried to sign him, but their bid, which also included a 20% fee from any future sale was turned down as Craiova wanted €10m for him.

Pleșan doesn’t state which year this happened, but he played for UC between 2000 and 2005 after which he then signed for Dinamo Bucureşti after Universitatea Craiova were relegated.

The central midfielder told gsp.ro

“I do not know if I would like to go to Barcelona, but I feel I could play there.

“When I was at Craiova, Arsenal made an offer for me.

“I found out that they offered three million Euros and 20% of a future transfer fee but were refused.

“Craiova asked €10m for me.”

If true, it’s interesting to wonder how his career would have turned out had he travelled to London when he was around 21.

After only one season with Dinamo, making just 12 league appearances, he then played for Politehnica Timişoara for a season before signing for Steaua Bucureşti where he would make 40 league appearances and score three goals over two seasons.

A season spent in the second string with Steaua followed before a move to Volga Nizhny Novgorod for three years and then on to CSU Craiova in 2013.