Arsenal: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo misses show need for change

Arsene Wenger has revealed how Arsenal came close to signing both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Such misses in the transfer window are why change was required.

Arsene Wenger was Arsenal manager for 22 years. Throughout those years, he made some wonderful signings. Nicolas Anelka. Thierry Henry. Cesc Fabregas. But there are also many who got away from him, including the two best players of this current generation.

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Yes, Arsenal missed out on Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

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Here is Wenger, when asked about any signings that came close but ultimately fell through, reflecting on the Ronaldo approach in 2003:

"“The obvious player [that we missed out on] that comes to mind is [Cristiano] Ronaldo. He was here with his mother and we were very close. Then Man United came in and they had Carlos Queiroz at the time, who was their coach. United played against Sporting Lisbon and Ronaldo was outstanding and they signed him.”"

And in a similar scenario, Wenger delineates how Barcelona blocked any approach for Messi, a player that the Catalan clearly understood was destined for greatness, even at such a young age:

"“I met Cesc’s parents and at the time we were interested in Messi and Pique as well <…> With Messi, Barcelona didn’t want to lose him of course and they made [the offer] that was needed to keep the player at the club. I don’t really know if Messi was interested. I couldn’t get close to try to force the deal because Barcelona stopped that possibility very early.”"

Obviously, when you are a manager for 22 years, there are always going to be regrets, missed opportunities, spurned chances to sign players. It is natural. Humans make mistakes, even ones as successful as Wenger. And Messi and Ronaldo are just two of a long list of transfer failures that every manager will have on his resume. But they do highlight one issue with this club in recent seasons: The recruitment has been a little wayward.

While it is tough to speak on missed signings, as the details are obviously not public knowledge and won’t be for many years such is the sensitivity of the information as it pertains to current players and managers, the additions that Arsenal have made in the past couple of years have not matched the same level as though early acquisitions.

Shkodran Mustafi. Lucas Perez. Granit Xhaka. Even Calum Chambers, Alexandre Lacazette, Mathieu Debuchy and, some would argue, Mesut Ozil. Have any of these players truly vindicated the price paid for them? The jury may still be out on some of them, but it’s certainly difficult to claim that any of them have been bargains. Arsenal’s transfer business, while falling short in the quantity of investment, is also failing in the quality of investment.

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And this is just another reason why change had to come. The transfer window was not the place of hope and progress that it once was. Perhaps Sven Mislintat can now turn around such fortunes.