With the news that Arsene Wenger personally called up Russian scout, Oleg Luzhny, to watch CSKA Moscow midfielder, Aleksandr Golovin, we look at other players that the Frenchman has used the personal touch to sign.
Wenger apparently told football agent, Sandor Varga, who represented ex-Gunner Oleg Luzhny, to keep an eye on 21-year-old Golovin and now the youngster is set to sign for Arsenal for between £10m and £15m.
So, who else has Wenger personally had a hand in recruiting?
4. Emmanuel Adebayor
Ade recently revealed that he hung up on Wenger once because he couldn’t believe that the Arsenal manager wanted him.
“I was not getting a lot of playing time at Monaco, it was the winter break so I went back to Togo,” the striker, who later played for Manchester City and Tottenham, revealed.
“I was playing a game of football with some friends when one of my friends ran over with a phone.
“He told me it was Arsene Wenger, I thought he was playing a joke on me.
“I took the phone and hung up.
“Wenger immediately called back and said, I recognised his voice it was him. How could you not recognise it, he was everywhere on television and was so well respected for what he had achieved at Arsenal.
“He told me that he wanted me at Arsenal, I told him, ‘If you want me I will jump on the first flight to London and sign on the dotted line’.
“In just two days I signed for Arsenal, I could not believe it.”
