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?
Aaron Ramsey
Back in 2008 when Rambo was still at Cardiff, the Wales midfielder was famously set to sign for Manchester United, who even announced it on their official website.
Wenger had other plans and called a meeting with the teenager.
“I had to make a decision at the time [of signing for the club],” Ramsey said.
“I flew over to see the boss and I knew straight away that this was where I wanted to be, I wanted to be in his plans and I was just buzzing.”
Mesut Ozil
Ozil left Real Madrid for Arsenal in 2013 after a phonecall with Wenger.
“I did not get the respect and trust. It was a bit difficult. When I spoke to Arsène on the phone, he was full of respect and, as a player, I need that,” the playmaker said.
“I’m not disappointed. I’m at Arsenal now, which is one of the biggest clubs in the world.
“You can see by the reaction of the fans and the players [at Madrid] that they didn’t understand the move.
“I don’t want to say anything bad about Madrid because I had three wonderful years there. I have great friends there. We achieved a lot with the club.”
The Germany international also revealed that he called the manager himself.
“’Mr Wenger,’ I said, ‘I promised that you’d be the first person I’d contact if I were ever looking for another club. Now I am’,” Ozil wrote in his autobiography.
“Arsene Wenger told me that he had been keeping an eye on me the whole time and that he liked how I’d developed. And all of a sudden I had that positive feeling again, the one I’d had during our telephone conversation back in 2010.
“I sensed that this man, who I’d never met personally, had a very high opinion of me and trusted me. Exactly what I needed at this difficult time.”
Patrick Vieira
Vieira joined Arsenal in 1996, the same year as Wenger, because the manager spoke French and he found it easy speaking with him.
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.”
Mikael Silvestre
Perhaps Silvestre isn’t a player that Arsenal fans particularly want reminding of but when he was at Manchester United in 2008, Wenger called him up to convince him to come to north London instead of City, where he was half-way through a medical.
“I was halfway through the medical at Manchester City, then during lunchtime – the break during the medical – I got a phone call from Arsene saying he wanted to sign me,” Silvestre told Soccer AM.
“I had to then phone [Mark] Hughes and tell him ‘I’m sorry, I have to turn down your offer’.”
Alexandre Lacazette
Lacazette’s choice to join Arsenal was apparently down to the boss.
Wenger apparently ‘seduced’ the 26-year-old during a meeting in mid-June, in which the manager reassured him that Arsenal absolutely wanted to sign him.
Kylian Mbappe?
Wenger was reported to have called Mbappe recently to persuade him to come to Arsenal.
The manager apparently tried to reassure the striker that he would get plenty of playing time.
Wenger also apparently has very close ties to Mbappe’s family.
Whether Wenger’s personal touch will work in this instance remains to be seen.